Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday the U.S. attacks on the country's three nuclear facilities indicated that the United States is the "main factor" behind Israel's hostile actions against Iran, reported Xinhua.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Pezeshkian strongly condemned the U.S. attack on Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan nuclear facilities on Saturday, according to a statement published on the website of his office.
He added the Iranian armed forces' "powerful" attacks against Israel Sunday morning were a response to "aggressive" U.S. policies.
Meanwhile, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said in response to "such aggressions and crimes," Iran would continue its "precise, targeted and formidable" strikes against Israel's infrastructure, strategic centers and interests.
"The aggressors should wait for regret-inducing responses," the IRGC warned in the statement.
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi stated on Sunday that Tehran "reserves all options" for retaliation.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Sunday that the U.S. military is still assessing the impact of its strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, which "took months and weeks of positioning" to execute.
The operation, named "Operation Midnight," utilized 14 bunker-buster bombs, over two dozen Tomahawk missiles, and more than 125 military aircraft, said Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The battle damage assessment remains ongoing, but an initial assessment indicates that all precision munitions struck where the U.S. military intended them to strike and had the desired effect, Hegseth said.
China has strongly condemned the U.S. attacks on Iran and bombing of nuclear facilities under the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Sunday.
The actions of the United States seriously violated the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and international law, and have exacerbated tensions in the Middle East, the spokesperson said.
China has called on the parties to the conflict, Israel in particular, to reach a ceasefire as soon as possible, ensure the safety of civilians, and start dialogue and negotiation, the spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, Russia also strongly condemned the U.S. strikes, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
It stated that the irresponsible decision to carry out missile and bomb strikes against the territory of a sovereign state — no matter what arguments are invoked — grossly violates international law, the UN Charter, and UN Security Council resolutions.
It is particularly concerning that the strikes were carried out by a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the statement said.
"It is already obvious that a dangerous escalation has begun, threatening to further undermine regional and global security," said the statement.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will hold an emergency meeting of its Board of Governors on June 23, the agency said on Sunday.
"Following attacks on three nuclear sites in Iran — including Fordow — the IAEA can confirm that no increase in off-site radiation levels has been reported as of this time," the United Nations agency said on social platform X on Sunday morning.
The agency said it would provide further assessments of the situation in Iran as more information becomes available.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the United States has completed attacks on three nuclear sites in Iran, including "Fordow, Natanz and Esfahan."
"All planes are now outside of Iran's airspace. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow," he said on the social platform Truth Social.
Tehran must agree to "end this war," Trump wrote on Truth Social after the strikes.
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency acknowledged attacks on the country's nuclear facilities.
Iran had evacuated these three nuclear sites "a while ago," said Hassan Abedini, deputy political director of Iran's state broadcaster, adding that Iran "didn't suffer a major blow because the materials had already been taken out."
Iran's Atomic Energy Organization confirmed the U.S. attacks, but said its work will not be stopped.
"The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran assures the great Iranian nation that despite the evil conspiracies of its enemies, with the efforts of thousands of its revolutionary and motivated scientists and experts, it will not allow the development of this national industry, which is the result of the blood of nuclear martyrs, to be stopped," the agency said in a statement issued after Trump announced the U.S. attacks.
The organization also confirmed that Iran's nuclear sites in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan were attacked again early Sunday, following Trump's remarks that the U.S. military had struck three nuclear targets.
"Necessary measures, including legal procedures, are on the agenda to defend the country's rights," said the organization.
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Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
