Iran launches missiles at Israel following U.S. strikes

The U S military struck three sites in Iran early Sunday inserting itself into Israel s effort to decapitating Iran s nuclear venture in a risky gambit to weaken a longtime foe amid Tehran s threat of reprisals that could spark a wider regional conflict The decision to directly involve the U S comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel on Iran that have moved to systematically eradicate the country s air defenses and offensive missile capabilities while damaging its nuclear enrichment facilities But U S and Israeli executives have revealed that American stealth bombers and a -lb bunker buster bomb they alone can carry offered the best chance of destroying heavily-fortified sites connected to the Iranian nuclear venture buried deep underground President Donald Trump reported the strikes Iran s state-run IRNA news agency announced that attacks targeted the country s Fordo Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites The agency did not elaborate Iran s foreign minister announced Iran reserves the right to retaliate Here is the latest Iran s top diplomat says he ll meet Putin in Moscow on Sunday Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responding to a question from a Russian outlet reported he ll journey to Moscow later on Sunday to meet with President Vladimir Putin after the U S struck Iranian nuclear sites We enjoy a strategic partnership and we inevitably consult with each other and coordinate our positions he reported referring to Russia Head of the Red Cross says the world cannot absorb limitless war The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross has warned that the escalation in the Middle East risks engulfing the region and the world in a war with irreversible consequences The world cannot absorb limitless war Upholding international humanitarian law is not a choice it is an obligation Mirjana Spoljaric noted in a announcement Iran has yet to offer a damage assessment of the site Images show damage to the entryways to Iran s underground nuclear site at Fordo Satellite images taken Sunday analyzed by The Associated Press show damage on the mountainside at to Iran s underground nuclear site at Fordo after U S airstrikes targeted the facility The images by Planet Labs PBC show the once-brown mountain had parts turned gray and its contours appeared slightly different than in previous images suggesting a blast threw up debris around the site That suggests the use of specialized American bunker buster bombs on the facility Light gray smoke also hung in the air Other satellite images suggest Iran before the strike sealed up its tunnel entrances at Fordo The chief of the UN nuclear watchdog says he ll convene an crisis meeting on Monday The head of U N s nuclear watchdog posted on X that given the U S intervention in the Israel-Iran war he will be convening an crisis meeting of the Board of Governors on Monday Rafael Grossi the director general of the International Atomic Resource Agency has been the target of much Iranian criticism in latest days for what they describe as conflicting statements that incited Israel s initial attack Iran s top diplomat throws cold water on calls to return to diplomacy with the US Iran s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X that the U S strikes overnight have blown up any possibility of diplomacy with the Americans or Europeans Last week we were in negotiations with the US when Israel decided to blow up that diplomacy This week we held talks with the E EU when the US decided to blow up that diplomacy Araghchi wrote on X What conclusion would you draw He added that British and European Union comments for Iran to return to the negotiating table is unfeasible now But how can Iran return to something it never left let alone blew up he noted Iran s Foreign Ministry says the U S has launched a dangerous war against Iran The ministry report says the U S strikes came during an ongoing diplomatic process and thereby betrayed diplomacy by supporting the aggressive actions of the genocidal and lawless Israeli regime Now in completion of that regime s unlawful and criminal acts the United States itself has launched a dangerous war against the Islamic Republic of Iran it added The world must not forget that it was the United States that in the midst of a diplomatic process betrayed diplomacy by supporting the genocidal and lawbreaking Israeli regime to impose a war of aggression on the Iranian nation the ministry also stated Israel gives latest number of its injured The Israeli Wellbeing Ministry says Iranian attacks overnight and into Sunday have wounded more than people The vast majority more than were lightly wounded it disclosed Iran executes a man accused of spying for Israel The judiciary s Mizan news agency identified the man as Majid Mosayebi and revealed he was hanged on Sunday after charges of spying in exchange for cryptocurrency payments The incident wasn t previously revealed The advancement raises fears of Tehran stepping up executions in the country in retaliation for the U S attacks Iran is one of the world s top executioners The UN nuclear watchdog says no increase in radiation levels off sites hit by the U S The International Atomic Ability Agency says in a message on X that there has been no increase in off-site radiation levels after U S airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites The IAEA can confirm that no increase in off-site radiation levels has been communicated as of this time it explained The IAEA will provide further assessments on situation in Iran as more information becomes available Iranian missiles hit areas in northern and central Israel after U S strikes on Iran The Israeli rescue system United Hatzalah stated it was dispatching first responders There was no immediate word on casualties or damage Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel since Israel launched a surprise attack on its military and nuclear facilities last week Israel s sophisticated air defenses are able to shoot down largest part but not all of the missiles and drones At least people have been killed in Israel and hundreds wounded Military hours ago U S strikes Iranian nuclear sites Trump says Middle East hours ago Nations react to U S strikes on Iran with calls for diplomacy Democratic lawmaker Last intel briefing established Iran posed no immediate threat U S Sen Chris Murphy posted on X that he and other senators received a classified briefing last week from intelligence officers who indicated that Iran did not pose an immediate threat through its nuclear campaign Iran was not close to building a deliverable nuclear weapon Murphy stated The negotiations Israel scuttled with their strikes held the anticipated for success Iran asks for an emergency meeting of the UN Protection Council over U S strikes Iran s ambassador to the United Nations called on Sunday for an urgency Precaution 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 noted that the U N s most of powerful body must take all necessary measures to hold the U S accountable under international law and the U N charter The Islamic Republic of Iran condemns and denounces in the strongest manageable terms these unprovoked and premeditated acts of aggression which have followed the large-scale military attack conducted by the Israeli regime on June against Iran s peaceful nuclear sites and facilities the letter continued Israel s army says Iranian missiles are incoming asks people to go to shelters The Israeli military says it s identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of Israel and says its defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat The inhabitants has been demanded to go to shelters and protected areas and remain there until further notice Iran s top diplomat warns U S attacks on its nuclear sites will have everlasting consequences Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also explained on X that Tehran reserves all options to retaliate He s the first ranking official to comment on the strikes on Isfahan Fordo and Natanz by the Americans The events this morning are outrageous and will have everlasting consequences Araghchi wrote 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 Flames seen at Fordo nuclear site in Iran after U S strike document says Iran s semiofficial Fars news agency has published an account by one of its reporters saying flames could be seen after the bombs hit the Fordo facility Fars which is inferred close to Iran s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard noted its reporter heard anti-aircraft fire around 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 stated Later on the reporter mentioned flames suddenly erupted from the direction of Fordo Simultaneously with the flames a faint trail of smoke and a key amount of dust rose in the area Fars quoted the reporter It offered no photos or video showing the attack Israeli personnel lauded the strikes Israeli executives lauded the strikes in sweeping and dramatic language Israel s president Isaac Herzog thanked Trump and noted the strikes marked a decisive moment between the axis of terror and evil and the axis of hope Israel s defense minister congratulated Trump on what he described as a historic decision U S initiatives up efforts to evacuate citizens from Israel The U S is stepping up evacuation flights for American citizens from Israel to Europe and continuing to draw down its staff at diplomatic missions in Iraq as fears of Iranian retaliation again U S interests in the Middle East grow Even before those airstrikes were publicized by President Donald Trump on Saturday evening in Washington the U S embassy in Jerusalem reported the start of evacuation flights for American civilians from Israel Sixty-seven American citizens left Israel on two governing body flights bound for Athens Greece on Saturday and four more evacuation flights to Athens were planned for Sunday according to an internal State Department document seen by The Associated Press In addition to the flights a cruise ship carrying more than American citizens including several hundred Jewish youngsters who had been visiting Israel on an organized tour arrived in Cyprus according to the document Israel closes airspace in wake of U S attacks Israel s Airport Authority disclosed it was closing the country s airspace to both inbound and outbound flights in the wake of the U S attacks on Iranian nuclear sites The agency announced it was shutting down air traffic due to contemporary developments and did not say for how long Iran says no signs of contamination after U S strikes nuclear facilities Iran mentioned early Sunday there were no signs of contamination at its nuclear sites at Isfahan Fordo and Natanz after U S airstrikes targeted the facilities Iranian state media quoted the country s National Nuclear Safety System Center which published a comment 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 declaration added Earlier Israeli airstrikes on nuclear sites similarly have caused no recorded release of radioactive material into the habitat around the facilities the International Atomic Strength Agency has commented Strikes used bunker buster bombs and cruise missiles The U S military used bunker-buster bombs in its attack on Iran s Fordo nuclear fuel enrichment plant which is built deep into a mountain a U S official reported That official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations The -pound bunker-busting American bomb known as the GBU- Massive Ordnance Penetrator uses its weight and sheer kinetic force to penetrate underground and then explode Saturday s strikes were the first time it has been used in combat U S submarines also participated in the attacks in Iran launching about Tomahawk land attack missiles according to another U S official speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations It was not clear what those missiles were aimed at Two Iranian nuclear sites besides Fordo were attacked Isfahan and Natanz Trump called Netanyahu after strikes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu disclosed in a video that Trump called him after the strikes It was a very warm conversation very emotional Netanyahu disclosed Speaking in Hebrew he called Trump a friend of Israel like no one before him In my name and on behalf of all citizens of Israel and on behalf of the entire Jewish world I thank him from the bottom of my heart This story uses functionality that may not work in our app Click here to open the story in your web browser