Iran threatens ‘everlasting consequences’ after US strikes nuclear sites

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned Sunday morning of “everlasting consequences” after US President Donald Trump announced that the American military had carried out a “successful attack” on the Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites in Iran.

The United States “has committed a grave violation of the UN Charter, international law and the NPT [the international Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty] by attacking Iran’s peaceful nuclear installations,” Iran’s top diplomat wrote on X.

“The events this morning are outrageous and will have everlasting consequences,” Araghchi said.

He added: “In accordance with the UN Charter and its provisions allowing a legitimate response in self-defense, Iran reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest, and people.”

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations called on Sunday for an emergency Security Council meeting for what he described as America’s “heinous attacks and illegal use of force” against Iran.

In a letter obtained by the AP, Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said that the UN’s most powerful body must “take all necessary measures” to hold the US accountable under international law and the UN charter.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran condemns and denounces in the strongest possible terms these unprovoked and premeditated acts of aggression, which have followed the large-scale military attack conducted by the Israeli regime on 13 June against Iran’s peaceful nuclear sites and facilities,” the letter said.

There was no immediate comment from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has reportedly been hiding in a bunker while facing threats of assassination by Israel in the ongoing war.

Following the strike, a commentator on Iran’s IRIB state broadcaster declared that every American citizen and soldier in the region was a “legitimate target.”

The broadcaster aired a map showing US bases in the region, with the commentator declaring, “You started it, and we’ll finish it.”

Damage to nuclear sites
Iranian state media confirmed that the Islamic Republic’s Isfahan, Natanz and Fordo nuclear sites were attacked by “enemy strikes.”

The IRIB state broadcaster claimed the sites along with their enriched uranium stockpiles were evacuated beforehand. Iran said early Sunday there were “no signs of contamination” at the nuclear sites.

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, if targeted, would cause radiation and be harmful to our compatriots,” he told the channel.

Iranian state media quoted the country’s National Nuclear Safety System Center, which published a statement saying its radiation detectors had recorded no radioactive release after the strikes.

“There is no danger to the residents living around the aforementioned sites,” the statement added.

Earlier Israeli airstrikes on nuclear sites similarly have caused no recorded release of radioactive material into the environment around the facilities, the International Atomic Energy Agency has said.

An Iranian parliament member representing the city of Qom near the Fordo nuclear site was quoted in Iranian state media as claiming that damage to the facility was “only above ground and can be restored.”

However, Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency published an account by one of its reporters saying flames could be seen after the bombs hit the Fordo facility.

Fars, which is linked to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, said its reporter heard anti-aircraft fire around 2:05 a.m. local time and explosions two minutes later.

“When I reached the vicinity… the air defense system was operating intensely, and its activity was clearly visible in the sky,” the reporter said. Later on, the reporter said, “flames suddenly erupted from the direction of Fordo.”

Simultaneously with the flames, a faint trail of smoke and a significant amount of dust rose in the area, Fars quoted the reporter as saying. It offered no photos or video showing the attack.

He said any content that could have posed a danger to the public had been removed from the site beforehand.

Trump’s decision to directly involve the US in the war came after more than a week of strikes by Israel that severely damaged Iran’s nuclear facilities, eradicated the country’s air defenses, and took out many of its military brass and top nuclear scientists.

Israel says its sweeping assault, which began on June 13, is necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from realizing its avowed plan to destroy the Jewish state.

Iran has retaliated by launching over 470 ballistic missiles and around 1,000 drones at Israel.

So far, Iran’s missile attacks have killed 24 people and wounded thousands in Israel, according to health officials and hospitals. Some of the missiles that have not been intercepted by Israeli air defenses have hit apartment buildings, a university and a hospital, causing heavy damage.