June 21, 2025 – Israel-Iran conflict

Our live coverage of the conflict between Israel and Iran has moved here.

Several Latin American countries have criticized the US strikes on Iran, while others voiced alarm and called for peace.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel condemned the strikes in a post on X late Saturday, warning it could expand the conflict in the region.

“We strongly condemn the US bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities, which constitutes a dangerous escalation of the conflict in the Middle East,” he wrote. “This aggression gravely violates the UN Charter and international law and plunges humanity into a crisis with irreversible consequences.”

Chilean President Gabriel Boric also condemned the attack on X, writing: “We demand and need peace.”

Venezuela’s Foreign Affairs Ministry condemned what it called “the military aggression against Iran,” in a statement.

Others called for dialogue and de-escalation.

Colombia’s foreign ministry urged all parties to resume negotiations as “the only responsible and lasting way out of the current crisis,” while Mexico’s foreign ministry wrote on X: “Restoring peaceful coexistence among the states in the region remains the highest priority.”

President Donald Trump warned that the US could still go after additional targets because there “is a real concern that now the Iranians will retaliate,” an analyst has said.

Iran has said “several times” that if the US “joins this war and attacks their nuclear facilities, they will retaliate against US forces in the region, against US interests, and there are a lot of those,” said CNN political and global affairs analyst Barak Ravid.

He added the second question is whether Iran will close the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping route.

“This is another threat they made. And closing the Strait of Hormuz would influence the entire commercial shipping in the Gulf. Much of it is oil and natural gas. This will get energy prices up. This will influence the entire world’s economy,” Ravid said.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Capitol Hill, on June 17.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is demanding answers from President Donald Trump tonight after he ordered US strikes on Iran.

“President Trump must provide the American people and Congress clear answers on the actions taken tonight and their implications for the safety of Americans,” Schumer said in a statement.

“We must enforce the War Powers Act and I’m urging (Senate Majority) Leader (John) Thune to put it on the Senate floor immediately,” Schumer said. “I am voting for it and implore all Senators on both sides of the aisle to vote for it.”

The Democrat added: “Confronting Iran’s ruthless campaign of terror, nuclear ambitions, and regional aggression demands strength, resolve, and strategic clarity. The danger of wider, longer, and more devastating war has now dramatically increased.”

Sen. Jack Reed, left, and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee and Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, are both calling for de-escalation after the US strikes on Iran.

“I strongly urge the Trump Administration to immediately pursue restraint, diplomacy, and international engagement to prevent further bloodshed,” Reed said in a statement. “Congress needs to be briefed in a classified setting. And I will work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to ensure the American people get the facts and answers they deserve. It’s easier to start wars than end them. Even though the U.S. maintains military dominance, we are in a dangerous stage that could lead to significant instability in the region and beyond. We must be prepared for contingencies going forward.”

Shaheen said that “the United States must not rush into war with Iran,” and noted that President Trump “has not continued the bipartisan tradition of regularly briefing Congress on major national security events that impact Americans around the world.”

She added, “President Trump must now de-escalate tensions with Iran and immediately brief Congress.”

Hamas has condemned the US strikes on Iran, calling them a violation of international law in a statement early Sunday.

The Palestinian militant group, which has strong ties to Iran, said the strikes were “a violation of all international norms and conventions,” and vowed to hold the US and Israel responsible.

There have been no radioactive traces detected in Gulf Arab states following the US strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities, according to Saudi Arabia’s nuclear regulator.

“No radioactive effects were detected on the environment of the Kingdom, and the Arab Gulf states as a result of the US military targeting of Iran’s nuclear facilities,” the Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority said in a post on X.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks on Sunday, following US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a five-hour meeting with his top officials that lasted throughout the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, according to a source familiar with the meeting.

The security cabinet meeting began at 10 p.m. local time (3 p.m. ET) and continued until the US carried out its strikes at approximately 3 a.m. local time (8 p.m. ET). The discussion ended after the US strikes, the source said.

A second source had previously told CNN that Israel held a security cabinet meeting to monitor the US bombing mission.

The meeting, which consisted of the senior officials involved in Israel’s handling of Iran, included a number of those closest to Netanyahu, the source said. Netanyahu confidant Ron Dermer was a part of the meeting, as were Defense Minister Israel Katz and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.

Israel’s military chief of staff and the head of its Mossad spy agency were also part of the meeting. Far-right Minster of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich participated as well.

US President Donald Trump “has a unique opportunity that no president has had before to really effect dramatic change” in the Middle East following American strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites, a former NATO supreme allied commander has told CNN.

“The US military is very confident,” said retired Gen. Wesley Clark, a CNN analyst. “I don’t expect the military to do anything in the next 24 or 48 hours. We are going to have to wait, probably on the Iranian response, but I do hope that we have people working underneath this, talking to lower-level people inside Iran and getting their sense of things.”

He added the US strikes leave the Middle East in “a very, very volatile and uncertain time.”

There is “no surprise about the B-2 strikes in terms of their ability to hit the target,” Clark said. “Of course, we don’t know what they have actually done to the target.”

Iran’s atomic energy agency strongly condemned US strikes on its nuclear facilities, calling them a “savage assault” and a violation of international law. CNN’s Fred Pleitgen reports from Iran’s capital:

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’Savage assault’: Iran condemns US strikes on nuclear sites

02:06 • Source: CNN

Law enforcement agencies around the US are closely monitoring the situation in the Middle East after the US launched airstrikes on Iran on Saturday, tracking intelligence for any potential threats to the homeland.

The Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and other federal, state and local agencies are watching for any response from Iran or others against the US, a federal official familiar with the coordination told CNN.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a social media post Saturday night, “We will work unceasingly to protect the American homeland.”

Police departments in New York City and Washington, DC, said they are sharing intelligence with their federal partners and are increasing or maintaining a heightened level of police resources around religious institutions.

The DC Police Department said in a statement that there is no known threat to the nation’s capital, but it is working to “safeguard residents, businesses, and visitors in the District of Columbia.”

Security postures around several key areas in the US capital, including the White House, Pentagon and Israeli Embassy, have increased since the conflict between Israel and Iran began earlier this month. Officials told CNN those increases are part of a normal security protocol activated when any conflict of this size begins.

The New York City Police Department said in a statement, “Out of an abundance of caution, we’re deploying additional resources to religious, cultural, and diplomatic sites across NYC and coordinating with our federal partners.”

Before the US launched the attacks, law enforcement officials told CNN that while there was no uptick in the already heightened threat posed against the US by Iran, that story could quickly change.

This photo released by the US Air Force on May 2, 2023, shows a GBU-57, known as the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, at Whiteman Air Base in Missouri.

The US used six B-2 bombers to drop a dozen “bunker buster” bombs on the Fordow nuclear site in Iran, a US official told CNN.

Navy submarines fired 30 TLAM cruise missiles at two other sites, Natanz and Isfahan, and a B2 dropped two bunker busters on Natanz, the official said.

The specifics of the strikes were earlier reported by The New York Times.

“Bunker buster”: The GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bomb, known as a “bunker buster,” is a 30,000-pound bomb with 6,000 pounds of explosives.

The MOP was designed for “reaching and destroying our adversaries’ weapons of mass destruction located in well-protected facilities,” according to a fact sheet from the US Air Force.

A prominent adviser to Iran’s supreme leader has called for missile strikes on US Navy ships and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping route.

“Following America’s attack on the Fordow nuclear installation, it is now our turn,” warned Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor-in-chief of the hardline Kayhan newspaper, a well-known conservative voice who has previously identified himself as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s “representative.”

A Telegram message from Kayhan quoted Shariatmadari as saying: “Without hesitation or delay, as a first step we must launch missile strikes on the American naval fleet based in Bahrain and simultaneously close the Strait of Hormuz to American, British, German, and French shipping.”

The message ended with a quote from the Quran, which read: “Kill them wherever you shall overtake (find) them.”

There has been no official response yet from Supreme Leader Khamenei to the US attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

There has been a “noted increase” in air activity overnight in Tehran, said CNN’s Senior International Correspondent Frederik Pleitgen, who is currently in the Iranian capital.

“We’ve seen bursts from anti-aircraft guns in the skies as well. So it certainly did seem as though there was more going on above the Iranian capital. But of course, no one could have known that this mission ordered by President Trump was going to happen.”

President Donald Trump took to social media Saturday night after his address to the nation to issue a stark warning to Iran, vowing overwhelming retaliation if Iran responds with force.

“ANY RETALIATION BY IRAN AGAINST THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL BE MET WITH FORCE FAR GREATER THAN WHAT WAS WITNESSED TONIGHT. THANK YOU! DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump’s post reflects the administration’s willingness to escalate further if provoked, reinforcing the president’s long-standing promise that a nuclear-armed Iran “will not be tolerated.”

US President Donald Trump delivers an address to the nation at the White House on Saturday.

President Donald Trump thanked the Israeli military “for the wonderful job they’ve done” and praised American servicemembers for “an operation the likes of which the world has not seen in many, many decades.”

“I want to thank the Israeli military for the wonderful job they’ve done, and most importantly, I want to congratulate the great American patriots who flew those magnificent machines tonight and all of the United States military on an operation the likes of which the world has not seen in many, many decades,” the president said in his Saturday night address to the nation.

“There is no military in the world that could have done what we did tonight,” he said, going on to praise his top military leadership.

“I also want to congratulate the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan ‘Razin’ Caine, spectacular general, and all of the brilliant military minds involved in this attack.”

President Donald Trump said the objective of Saturday’s strikes against three Iranian nuclear sites was to stop the “nuclear threat.”

“Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number one state sponsor of terror,” Trump said in an address from the White House Saturday night.

Trump’s consideration of strikes over the past week had divided his top allies, splitting the MAGA-aligned isolationists fearful of another American war in the Middle East from more hawkish conservative voices like Sen. Lindsey Graham. But all along, Trump was adamant that Iran could not obtain a nuclear weapon.

“For 40 years, Iran has been saying, ‘Death to America,’ ‘Death to Israel.’ They have been killing our people, blowing off their arms, blowing off their legs, with roadside bombs. That was their specialty. We lost over 1,000 people, and hundreds of thousands throughout the Middle East and around the world have died as a direct result of their hate,” Trump said.

He said that “so many were killed by their general, Qasem Soleimani.” Trump ordered a strike in Iraq in January 2020 to kill Soleimani, a decision he said at the time was aimed at deterrence.

“I decided a long time ago that I would not let this happen. It will not continue,” Trump said Saturday.

A prominent official from the Iran-supported Houthi rebels in Yemen said in a social media post early Sunday that it would hold US President Donald Trump responsible for the US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

“Trump must bear the consequences,” Houthi political bureau member Hizam al-Assad posted on X.

Earlier, a statement from the Houthi-controlled Yemeni Armed Forces said the group was prepared to target US Navy warships in the Red Sea “in the event that the American enemy launches an aggression in support” of Israel.

Some context: Houthi rebels began attacking ships in the Red Sea in November 2023, at first targeting vessels with links to Israel in reaction to its war in Gaza. Later, US warships in the region became Houthi targets after they intervened to protect Red Sea shipping. The US retaliated with a series of air strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen that continued into the spring of this year.

Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, speaks to the press in Brussels, Belgium, on March 20, 2024.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “gravely alarmed” by the US strike on Iran early Sunday, calling for peace and warning against further escalation in the turbulent region.

“There is a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control – with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region, and the world.”

He urged all UN member states to de-escalate, under their obligations to the UN charter and international law.

“There is no military solution. The only path forward is diplomacy,” he wrote.

President Donald Trump announced during a brief address to the nation Saturday night that top officials will hold a news conference Sunday morning at the Pentagon to discuss the US operation targeting Iranian nuclear facilities.

“Tomorrow, Gen. Caine, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, will have a press conference at 8 a.m. at the Pentagon,” Trump said at the conclusion of his three-and-a-half-minute remarks at the White House, which did not offer substantive details on the strikes.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine has emerged as one of the key voices advising Trump over the course of the Israel-Iran conflict as the president weighed the possibility of US military intervention, along with CIA Director John Ratcliffe and US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, whom Trump had tasked with pursuing a diplomatic solution.