US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, at a news conference at the Pentagon, Washington D.C., June 22, 2025 (Andrew Harnik/Getty)

EA-Times Radio VideoCast: Trump Joins Israel’s War on Iran

EA-Byline Times Podcast: What’s Next After Trump’s Bombing of Iran?

EA on International Outlets: Trump Administration Bombs Iran

Bombing Nuclear Sites, Trump Joins Israel’s War on Iran

UPDATE 2236 GMT:

Donald Trump has proclaimed a “ceasefire” in a confusing, rambling post on social media:

It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE (in approximately 6 hours from now, when Israel and Iran have wound down and completed their in progress, final missions!), for 12 hours, at which point the War will be considered, ENDED!

Officially, Iran will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 12th Hour, Israel will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 24th Hour, an Official END to THE 12 DAY WAR will be saluted by the World. During each CEASEFIRE, the other side will remain PEACEFUL and RESPECTFUL.

Trump congratulated “both Countries, Israel and Iran, on having the Stamina, Courage, and Intelligence to end” the Israeli war: “God bless Israel, God bless Iran, God bless the Middle East, God bless the United States of America, and GOD BLESS THE WORLD!”

Vice President J.D. Vance claimed, without presenting evidence, on Fox TV, “Iran was very close to having a nuclear weapon. Now Iran is incapable of building a nuclear weapon with the equipment they have because we destroyed it.”

Neither Israel nor Iran announced agreement to the “ceasefire”. Instead, explosions were heard in northeast Tehran after the Israel Defense Forces issued an evacuation order for District 7.

UPDATE 2029 GMT:

Donald Trump has reacted to Iran’s token retaliatory missile strikes:

He called it a “very weak response”, with 13 of 14 missiles intercepted and the other heading in a “non-threatening direction”.

Trump pointed to de-escalation, thanking Iran for advance notification of the strikes:

They’ve gotten it all out of their “system,” and there will, hopefully, be no further HATE. I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured. Perhaps Iran can now proceed to Peace and Harmony in the Region, and I will enthusiastically encourage Israel to do the same.

He added in a subsequent post, “CONGRATULATIONS WORLD, IT’S TIME FOR PEACE!”

UPDATE 2013 GMT:

Following Iran’s token retaliatory missile strikes on the Al-Udeid airbase in Qatar, the Supreme Leader has curiously tweeted: “We have not attacked anyone”.

He continued, over an image of a blazing American flags and military structures, “We absolutely do not accept anyone’s aggression, nor will we submit to anyone’s aggression; this is the logic of the Iranian nation.”

UPDATE 2003 GMT:

The Israel Defense Forces say they conducted their “most extensive wave of strikes to date in Tehran”, involving 50 jets and the dropping of more than 100 munitions.

A spokesperson said Israel has “many more attacks planned”. They confirmed the targeting of the Evin Prison in Tehran, a “symbol of oppression for the Iranian people”.

Defense Ninister Israel Katz earlier said Israel hit “regime targets and agencies of government repression” such as the headquarters of the Basij paramilitary forces and the internal security headquarters of the Revolutionary Guards. The Israeli military also said it struck access roads to the Fordow uranium enrichment plant (see 1020 GMT).

UPDATE 1953 GMT:

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have criticized Iran’s token missile strikes on the Al-Udeid airbase in Qatar.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry said “in the strongest terms” that the Iranian strikes were “a flagrant violation of international law and the principles of good neighborliness”.

The Kingdom affirms its solidarity and full support for the sisterly State of Qatar and is deploying all its capabilities to support the sisterly State of Qatar in all the measures it takes.

The UAE called out “a blatant violation of Qatar’s sovereignty and airspace, and a clear contravention of international law and the UN Charter”.

Egypt, Oman, and Lebanon also issued condemnations.

French President Emmanuel Macron expressed solidarity with Qatar. He called for a return to diplomacy and negotiations to end “the spiral of chaos”.

UPDATE 1858 GMT:

While Iran was carrying out its token missile strikes on an American airbase in Qatar, Donald Trump was throwing a tantrum that media are not accepting his claim of “total obliteration” of three Iranian nuclear sites.

The sites that we hit in Iran were totally destroyed, and everyone knows it. Only the Fake News would say anything different in order to try and demean, as much as possible.

He singled out journalists from CNN, ABC, and NBC.

“It never ends with the sleazebags in the Media,” he cried.

UPDATE 1850 GMT:

A US defense official confirms the Iranian firing of short- and medium-range ballistic missiles on the Al-Ubeid airbase in Qatar. They said there are no immediate reports of American casualties.

A US military official said that no Iranian missiles landed on the airbase, and there were no attacks on other Middle Eastern facilities with American personnel.

UPDATE 1753 GMT:

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson says no one was injured in the Iranian attack on the Al-Udeid Air Base near Doha.

Majed al-Ansari said the missiles were intercepted by Qatari air defenses.

He added that Qatar condemned the attack and cautioned against continued escalation in the region, urging diplomacy to end the ongoing conflict.

The statement was released just minutes after the attack, confirming statements by Iranian officials that advanced warning was given.

The message was given to Qatar, who passed it to the Trump Administration. US officials confirmed they had “good advan

UPDATE 1749 GMT:

The Israeli Air Force says it completed an “extensive” wave of strikes with 15 fighter jets, targeting Iranian underground military infrastructure, a missile storage facility, and a drone storage facility.

A drone hit a ballistic missile launcher in central Iran.

The Israel Defense Forces said:

Our message in these strikes is clear: We have many more strike plans.

We will know to continue to strike any component of the regime that is part of the plans that threaten Israel.

UPDATE 1711 GMT:

Iran’s military have confirmed the launch of a missile barrage at US military bases in Qatar.

The military said Operation Herald Victory responds to the “blatant military aggression by the criminal regime of the United States” — “a clear violation of international law” — against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The message of this decisive action by the sons of the nation in the armed forces to the White House and its allies is clear and direct….[Iran will] never leave any violation of its territorial integrity, sovereignty, or national security unanswered.

The military declared that it used the multi-warhead Kheibar ballistic missile for the first time.

The Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, Maj. Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, said the operations will continue uninterrupted until Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is brought to his knees.

“The very nature of this criminal act will not remain without a response, irrespective of the level of destruction,” he declared.

UPDATE 1659 GMT:

Iran has reportedly fired missiles on Qatar.

Explosions have been heard over Doha. An Israeli official said ten missiles have been fired towards US airbases.

The US and UK had earlier advised nationals to shelter in place.

A Western diplomat said there had been a credible Iranian threat against the US-run al-Udeid airbase since noon. Al-Udeid is the US’s largest airbase in the Middle East, hosting around 10,000 troops.

“Three Iranian officials with knowledge of the plans” said Tehran “gave advanced notice” to Qatar “that attacks were coming to minimize casualties”.

The UK’s Sky News reported that Iran is believed to have also targeted American airbases in Iraq. The air defense system was activated in the US Ain al-Asad airbase.

UPDATE 1346 GMT:

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has supported the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites.

Addressing the Federation of German Industries, Merz said:

There is no reason to criticise what America did at the weekend. Yes, it is not without risk. But leaving things as they were was not an option either.

In contrast to both Merz and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron said, “There is no framework of legality in these strikes, even if France shares the objective not to see Iran acquire nuclear weapons”.

In Oslo alongside Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Macron added, “I believe in the sovereignty of peoples and territorial integrity… so I don’t think we can take the place of a people to change its leaders.”

UPDATE 1226 GMT:

At a European Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has called for a rejection of “regime change” in Iran.

Emphasizing the need for negotiations, Barrot said:

The Iranian people, who have heroically resisted the regime whose actions we have condemned, [should] determine their own future and choose for themselves the time and circumstances to change the regime. It would be illusory and dangerous to think that such a change can be provoked by force and bombs.

He added that Israeli strikes on Evin Prison in Tehran, putting in danger French political prisoners Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, were unacceptable.

Kohler and Paris have been detained since May 2022.

UPDATE 1102 GMT:

Israel has confirmed that it attacked access roads to the Fordoo underground uranium enrichment plant in central Iran.

Fordoo was the target of US “bunker buster” bombs on Saturday night.

UPDATE 1027 GMT:

International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi has spoken to an emergency meeting about US bombing of Iran’s Fordoo uranium enrichment plant, buried in a mountain in the center of the country.

Given the explosive payload utilized and the extreme vibration-sensitive nature of centrifuges, very significant damage is expected to have occurred.

I indicated that any transfer of nuclear material from a safeguarded facility to another location in Iran must be declared to the Agency as required under Iran’s Safeguard Agreement, and I expressed my readiness to work with Iran on this matter.

UPDATE 1020 GMT:

Defense Minister Israel Katz has described the latest Israeli strikes on Iran’s capital:

The IDF is currently striking with unprecedented force regime targets and governmental repression bodies in the heart of Tehran, including the Basij headquarters, the Evin Prison for political prisoners and regime opponents, the “Destruction of Israel” clock in Palestine Square, the internal security headquarters of the Revolutionary Guards, the ideology headquarters, and other regime targets.

Israeli officials claimed the killing of “numerous” Revolutionary Guards troops.

The “Destruction of Israel” clock, erected in central Tehran in 2017, counts down to Israel’s ostensible demise in 2040.

The Mizan outlet of Iran’s judiciary said part of Evin Prison has been damaged but the situation is under control.

Iran’s Tasnim outlet also claimed an Israeli attack on the Fordoo nuclear facility, struck by the US late Saturday.

Video of the entrance to Evin Prison after the strikes:

UPDATE 0925 GMT:

Israel is carrying out another wave of attacks across Iran.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said the attacks are of “unprecedented intensity” on targets in central Tehran.

Iranian media report explosions and a strike near the site of the Red Crescent.

UPDATE 0842 GMT:

Iran has fired six or seven missiles against Israel, in four waves over a 40-minute period.

There are no reports of injuries. One missile landed next to a power station in southern Israel, causing outages in nearby towns.

UPDATE 0829 GMT:

Iran’s authorities have executed another man accused of espionage for Israel.

Mohammadamin Shayesteh, arrested in late 2023, was hung early Monday. He was condemned of being “the head of a cyber-team affiliated with [Israeli intelligence service] Mossad”

UPDATE 0818 GMT:

Defying the questions over the effectiveness of US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites, Donald Trump blustered late Sunday:

Monumental Damage was done to all Nuclear sites in Iran, as shown by satellite images. Obliteration is an accurate term!…The biggest damage took place far below ground level. Bullseye!!!

UPDATE 0814 GMT:

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has supported US strikes on Iran, blaming Tehran for not coming “to the table” for a resolution over its nuclear program.

The world has long agreed that Iran cannot be allowed to get a nuclear weapon and we support action to prevent that – that is what this is. The US action was directed at specific sites central to Iran’s nuclear program. We don’t want escalation and a full-scale war.

We continue to call for dialogue and for diplomacy.

In sharp contrast, New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said he is looking for “evidence to do with” Iran’s nuclear program that showed Tehran was “way outside the negotiated position they’ve been taking all this time”.

Peters told Radio NZ that Iran had “been marvellously good at negotiating their way out of things and the question is, have they kept to their commitments, have they breached their international obligations”.

The world needed to “find that out before we rush to judgement”, he cautioned.

Japan Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told reporters that he viewed the situation with “grave concern”. He said Iran’s development of nuclear weapons must be “blocked”, but declined an invitation to support the US strikes, saying that he would respond “when appropriate”.

UPDATE 0809 GMT:

Iran’s Supreme Leader has warned Israel: “The Zionist enemy has made a grave mistake, committed a great crime; it must be punished and is being punished; it is being punished right now.”

Ayatollah Khamenei added an image of a skull with the Star of David, sitting atop a darkened city with missiles raining down.

UPDATE 0806 GMT:

Iranian officials claim three civilians were killed when an Israeli airstrike hit an ambulance in central Iran on Sunday.

Hamidreza Mohammadi Fesharaki, a county head in Isfahan Province, said the ambulance was en route transferring a patient when it was severely damaged by a drone strike. The patient, their companion, and the driver were slain.

UPDATE 0759 GMT:

In a joint statement, the UK, France and Germany called on Iran to enter negotiations for an agreement addressing all concerns over its nuclear program.

The three countries urged Iran “not to take any further action that could destabilize the region: “We have consistently been clear that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon and can no longer pose a threat to regional security.”

However, they did not go as far as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s endorsement of the Trump Administration’s strikes on nuclear facilities. Starmer posted, “Iran can never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon and the US has taken action to alleviate that threat.”

UPDATE 0753 GMT:

Donald Trump has called for regime change in Iran, contradicting his top advisors.

Trump posted on social media on Sunday night:

It’s not politically correct to use the term, “Regime Change,” but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!”

While trying to break the Iranian leadership, Israel’s Netanyahu Government has denied that its goal is regime change.

Earlier on Sunday, US Vice President J.D. Vance insisted the US was “not at war with Iran, we’re at war with Iran’s nuclear program”. Secretary of state Marco Rubio declared that the Trump Administration was “not looking for war in Iran”.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Questions are circulating about the effectiveness of the high-profile US strikes, including with “bunker buster bombs” on Iran’s nuclear sites on Saturday.

Announcing the strikes on social media, Trump proclaimed that the US bombs and Tomahawk missiles “totally obliterated” the nuclear facilities at Fordoo, Natanz, and Isfahan. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth repeated at a briefing on Sunday that “Iran’s nuclear ambitions have been obliterated” by the “incredible and overwhelming success” of the attacks.

However, at the same briefing, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine acknowledged that the Bomb Damage Assessments of the operations were still being conducted.

Meanwhile, both available information and the analyses of nuclear experts posed a series of challenges to the Administration’s sweeping claims.

Did Iran’s Precautions Work?

The Administration claimed that the “bunker busters” — 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrators, dropped by B-2 bombers — had reached the Fordoo uranium enrichment facility, buried deep inside a mountain near the holy city of Qom in central Iran.

Iranian officials claimed that they had moved out much of Fordoo’s equipment and uranium. The assertion is supported by satellite images of trucks carrying material from the complex in the days before the strikes.

And even if Fordoo’s structure was reached and damaged, the extent of the setback on Iran’s nuclear program is far from clear.

In a lengthy thread on social media, arms control expert Jeffrey Lewis begins:

Israel and the US have failed to target significant elements of Iran’s nuclear materials and production infrastructure. RISING LION and MIDNIGHT HAMMER are tactically brilliant, but may turn out to be strategic failures.

He notes that Iran’s stock of around 400 kg (880 pounds) of 60% uranium, which can potentially be further enriched to a military grade of more than 90%, was not stored at Fordoo but at the Isfahan facility in central Iran.

The only assessment so far of the damage to Isfahan on Saturday has come from the International Atomic Energy Agency. Its analysts said the Americans hit 10 buildings, four of which had already been struck by the Israelis, and there was no significant release of radiation.

Lewis notes that, as at Fordoo, uranium was likely taken out of Isfahan:

No one even knows where the HEU is now! IAEA DG Grossi says Iran moved it. Lil' Marco Rubio says nothing can move in Iran. But trucks are moving in Iran. Trucks and heavy equipment showed up at least two days ago to seal the tunnels to protect them. @planetlabs.bsky.social took a picture. 4/17

[image or embed]

— Jeffrey Lewis (@armscontrolwonk.bsky.social) June 23, 2025 at 2:27 AM

Vice President J.D. Vance implicitly admitted on Sunday that the Administration does not know where the 60% uranium is, saying it would have to “have conversations with the Iranians” about the fuel.

The Facility That Was Not Struck

Lewis continues that there was “no effort to strike the enormous underground facility next to Natanz where Iran can make more centrifuges and maybe do other things”.

A centrifuge production line was established in 2022 in the facility, estimated at more than 10,000 square meters. Like Fordoo, the new complex is 80 to 100 meters under a mountain.

Iran recently declared the “new enrichment facility in a secure location”, notifying the IAEA that it was ready to start installing centrifuges. The IAEA was set to inspect the facility before the plan was interrupted by Israel’s war.

Lewis summarizes:

This means Iran has retained 400 kg of 60% HEU, the ability to manufacture centrifuges, and one, possibly two underground enrichment sites. That is also to say nothing of possible secret sites, which opponents of the JCPOA used to invoke all the freaking time. 11/17

— Jeffrey Lewis (@armscontrolwonk.bsky.social) June 23, 2025 at 2:27 AM

The expert estimates that installing new centrifuge cascades, Iran could have weapons-grade uranium in five months.

We ought to judge this strike by its real purpose, not the legal camouflage of preemptive self-defense. If the strike leaves the current regime, or something very much like it, in power with a nuclear option then it will have been a strategic failure.