DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, June 22 (AP): The United States attacked three sites in Iran early Sunday, inserting itself into Israel's war aimed at destroying the Iranian nuclear program in a risky gambit to weaken a longtime foe that prompted fears of a wider regional conflict as Tehran accused Washington of launching "a dangerous war."
U.S. President Donald Trump asserted that Iran's key nuclear sites were "completely and fully obliterated" in an address to the nation from the White House.
Hours later, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the time for diplomacy had passed and that his country had the right to defend itself, saying the U.S. had "crossed a very big red line."
"The warmongering, a lawless administration in Washington is solely and fully responsible for the dangerous consequences and far reaching implications of its act of aggression," he told reporters in Turkey in the first comments by a high-ranking Iranian official since the strikes.
Iran is a close ally of Russia, and has actively supported it in its war on Ukraine, supplying it with attack drones. Araghchi said he would be flying immediately to Moscow to meet with President Vladimir Putin "and coordinate our positions."
The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran confirmed that attacks took place on its Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz sites, but it insisted that its nuclear program will not be stopped. Both Iran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog said there were no immediate signs of radioactive contamination around the three locations following the strikes.
Saudi regulatory authorities also said Sunday that "no radioactive effects were detected" in the Gulf region after US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.
"No radioactive effects were detected on the environment of the Kingdom and the Arab Gulf states as a result of the American military targeting of Iran's nuclear facilities," the kingdom's Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Commission wrote in a post on X.
Satellite images by Planet Labs PBC taken after the American strikes, analyzed by The Associated Press, show damage to the Fordo facility, which is dug deep into a mountain, while light gray smoke lingered in the air.
Iran's Foreign Ministry said Washington had "betrayed diplomacy" with the military strikes in support of Israel, and said that "the U.S. has itself launched a dangerous war against Iran."
Hours after the U.S. strikes, Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it launched a barrage of 40 missiles at Israel, including its Khorramshahr-4, which can carry multiple warheads. Israeli authorities reported that more than 80 people suffered mostly minor injuries, though one multi-story building in Tel Aviv was significantly damaged, with its entire façade torn away to expose the apartments inside. Houses across the street were almost completely destroyed.
Following the Iranian barrage, Israel's military said it had "swiftly neutralized" the Iranian missile launchers that had fired, and that it had begun a series of strikes toward military targets in western Iran.
AFP adds: Iran's armed forces said Sunday they targeted multiple sites in Israel including Ben Gurion airport, after US attacks on key nuclear sites in the Islamic republic.
"The twentieth wave of Operation Honest Promise 3 began using a combination of long-range liquid and solid fuel missiles with devastating warhead power," the armed forces said in a statement quoted by Fars news agency. The targets included the airport, a "biological research centre", logistics bases and various layers of command and control centres, it added.
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