PinnedUpdated June 22, 2025, 6:56 a.m. ETIran vowed to defend itself after the United States military joined Israel’s war against Iran early Sunday morning by dropping bombs and firing missiles at three key nuclear sites in the country, prompting fears that the American attack could lead to more dangerous escalations across the Middle East.President Trump said the objective was the “destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity.” He claimed success, saying in a brief, televised address from the White House that the nuclear facilities had been “completely and totally obliterated.”“Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace,” Mr. Trump said. “If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier.”Mr. Trump’s decision to attack Iran was likely to dim hopes for a negotiated solution to end the fighting, just days after the president had indicated he would wait for as long as two weeks to give diplomacy a chance.After the U.S. strikes early on Sunday local time, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi lashed out at the United States for undercutting recent diplomatic efforts — and rejected calls by European leaders to return to the negotiating table.“How can Iran return to something it never left, let alone blew up?” Mr. Araghchi wrote on social media.He later told a news conference in Istanbul that Iran “reserves all options to defend its security interests and people,” but declined to be more specific — including about whether Iran would retaliate against U.S. military bases in the Middle East or move to close the Strait of Hormuz, a key global shipping lane beside southern Iran.“We have to respond based on our legitimate right of self-defense,” he told reporters, adding that “there are a variety of options available to us.”The U.S. strikes ushered in a period of high alert in the region, where more than 40,000 American troops are on bases and warships, as the Pentagon braced for almost-certain retaliation. While U.S. officials say that Iran has depleted its stockpile of medium-range missiles, the country still has an ample supply of other weapons, including rockets and attack drones.Hours after the American bombs were dropped, Iran launched a new round of missiles toward Israel, triggering air raid sirens across the country and sending millions of people scrambling for shelter. The Israeli authorities said that at least 16 people were wounded in the barrage, one of many exchanges of fire between the two sides since Israel’s military launched a surprise assault on Iran on June 13.Israel later announced another series of strikes on military targets in western Iran.The nuclear sites attacked by the U.S. include Iran’s two major uranium enrichment centers: the heavily fortified mountain facility at Fordo and a larger enrichment plant at Natanz that Israel had struck several days ago with smaller weapons. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said early Sunday that the U.S. strikes had been carried out “in full coordination” between the American and Israeli militaries.Here’s what you need to know:Potential damage: Iranian officials acknowledged the attacks, and the International Atomic Energy Agency said it had not detected any increases in radiation outside the sites. Mahdi Mohammadi, a senior adviser to the speaker of Iran’s Parliament, said on social media that Fordo had been evacuated beforehand and that damage there was “not irreversible.”International reaction: America’s allies and adversaries were scrambling on Sunday to process the U.S. strikes on three nuclear sites in Iran that brought the U.S. military directly into Israel’s war. As fears grew that the attacks could further escalate tensions across the Middle East, some officials condemned the strikes while others urged calm. Read more ›Reaction in Congress: Top Republicans rallied behind Mr. Trump, calling the strikes a necessary check on Iran’s nuclear ambitions. But senior Democrats and some Republican lawmakers condemned the move as unconstitutional and said that it could drag the United States into a broader war. Read more ›Strike details: A U.S. official said that six B-2 bombers dropped a dozen 30,000-pound bunker buster bombs on the Fordo nuclear site, and Navy submarines fired 30 TLAM cruise missiles at Natanz and another nuclear site in Isfahan. One B-2 also dropped two bunker busters on Natanz, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss military operations. The strikes marked the first time the U.S. Air Force had ever used the 30,000-pound bomb, called the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, in combat.What’s next? Now that Mr. Trump has helped Israel, it will most likely initiate a more dangerous phase in the war. Here are some ways that could play out, and a look at how the U.S. military’s powerful bunker-busting bombs work.Reporting was contributed by David E. Sanger, Robert Jimison, Michael Gold, Megan Mineiro, Jonathan Swan, Aaron Boxerman Yan Zhuang and Talya Minsberg.June 22, 2025, 6:54 a.m. ETNataliya VasilyevaRussia, a long-time ally of Iran, has “strongly condemned” the U.S. strikes on the country. In the government’s first official comment on the attack, Russia’s foreign ministry issued a statement saying that the strikes were “irresponsible” and constituted a “gross violation of international law, the U.N. charter and resolutions of the U.N. Security Council.” It called on the U.N. Security Council to “put end to confrontational acts” by Israel and the United States.June 22, 2025, 6:50 a.m. ETThe head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Eslami, at a news conference in November in Tehran.Credit...Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA, via ShutterstockPresident Trump asserted that Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facilities were “completely and totally obliterated” by American strikes. But this month, Iran claimed that it had another enrichment site “in a secure and invulnerable location,” with installation of centrifuges to begin immediately.The announcement, by the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Eslami, came on June 12 — immediately after Iran was censured by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors for failing to meet its obligations for transparency under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.“The new site is fully constructed and located in a secure, invulnerable location,” Mr. Eslami said. “As soon as centrifuge installation and setup are complete, enrichment will begin.”His announcement was a surprise, and so far there has been no confirmation of his claim nor any official indication of where any new site would be. Western intelligence agencies have not assessed the veracity of the claim, and there was little public reaction to his assertion from the International Atomic Energy Agency or foreign governments.The site has been under construction for several years, and Iran has not given the agency access to it. “They are telling us, ‘It’s none of your business,’” the agency’s head, Rafael M. Grossi, told reporters in April.Presumably this new site, which would have been Iran’s third, is also underground, like the Fordo and Natanz sites bombed overnight. But it is not clear whether any centrifuges have already been installed there, or even if it is as ready as Mr. Eslami said it was.David Albright, of the Institute for Science and International Security, has written that the new site is likely south of Natanz, under Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La, a mountain nearly a mile above sea level — and which is nearly a half-mile taller than Fordo mountain.The site appears to be meant for large-scale centrifuge installation, Mr. Albright said. If operational with the newest centrifuges, Mr. Albright judged that Iran could produce enough highly enriched uranium for 19 nuclear weapons within three months.Iran also announced then, as part of its response, that it would replace older centrifuges at Fordo with the most modern type, but again, it is not clear whether it had done so before the bombing.June 22, 2025, 6:27 a.m. ETIran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told a news conference in Istanbul on Sunday that his country would defend itself.Credit...Khalil Hamra/Associated PressIran’s foreign minister condemned the U.S. on Sunday for carrying out military strikes on his country, accusing President Trump of a betrayal and vowing that his country would respond in “self-defense.”The foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said that by attacking a country the United States had been negotiating with, Mr. Trump had “betrayed Iran” and “betrayed diplomacy” — plus “deceived his own voters,” after campaigning on a promise to keep America out of foreign wars.At a news conference in Istanbul, Mr. Araghchi reiterated that Iran “reserves all options to defend its security interests and people.” But he declined to be more specific — including about whether Iran would retaliate against U.S. military bases in the Middle East or move to close the Strait of Hormuz, a key global shipping lane beside southern Iran.“I am not in a position to reveal what we are going to do in response,” he told reporters in Istanbul, saying that Iran was still assessing the damage from the strikes.“There are a variety of options available to us,” he added. “And that’s it.”When asked if the door to diplomacy was still open, he said that “this is not the case right now.”“My country has been under attack, under aggression, and we have to respond based on our legitimate right of self-defense,” he said.Mr. Araghchi said he would soon head to Moscow and planned to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Monday.“Russia is a friend of Iran, and we enjoy strategic partnership and we always consult with each other and coordinate our positions,” he said.The Kremlin has not yet commented on the U.S. strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities.While Russia was quick to condemn Israel’s attacks on Iran, it has thus far stopped short of offering any concrete support. For Moscow, entangling itself could risk alienating the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, two increasingly important Russian partners, which would not welcome a more powerful Iran. And Russia’s forces are already tied down in Ukraine.June 22, 2025, 6:09 a.m. ETThe American attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities were conducted in coordination with the Israeli military, Effie Defrin, the Israeli military’s chief spokesman, said in a televised news briefing. He did not elaborate on how or to what extent the two militaries worked together during the strikes.June 22, 2025, 6:01 a.m. ETIn the three days prior to the U.S. strikes, a flurry of abnormal activity was observed near an entrance tunnel at Iran’s Fordo nuclear site, according to satellite imagery released by Maxar Technologies, a satellite technology company. On June 19, the analyst said that 16 cargo trucks were positioned near an entrance tunnel. The following day, these had moved northwest away from the site, but other trucks and bulldozers were visible near the entrance. An analysis by the Open Source Centre in London had suggested Iran may have been preparing the facility for a strike.June 22, 2025, 6:00 a.m. ETWhen asked if Iran planned to retaliate against American military bases in the Middle East or close the Strait of Hormuz, Araghchi declined to elaborate, saying only: “There are a variety of options available to us. And that’s it.” He told the news conference that he would soon head to Moscow and plans to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia tomorrow. “Russia is a friend of Iran, and we enjoy strategic partnership and we always consult with each other and coordinate our positions,” he said.June 22, 2025, 5:37 a.m. ETIran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, is giving a news conference right now. He said that with the latest attack, President Trump has “betrayed Iran,” with which he was engaging in nuclear negotiations, and “deceived his own voters,” after campaigning on a promise to end American forever wars.VideoCreditCredit...Turkish Foreign Ministry, via ReutersJune 22, 2025, 5:38 a.m. ETAraghchi reiterated that Iran “reserves all options to defend its security interests and people.” When asked if the door to diplomacy is still open, he said that “this is not the case right now.”“My country has been under attack, under aggression, and we have to respond based on our legitimate right of self defense,” he told the news conference.VideoCreditCredit...TRT Pool, via Associated PressJune 22, 2025, 5:35 a.m. ETThe E.U.'s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said that European foreign ministers will discuss the situation in Iran tomorrow in the wake of American strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. In a post on social media, Kallas neither condemned nor expressed support for the U.S. strikes, instead writing that Iran “must not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon” as she called for de-escalation and a return to negotiations.June 22, 2025, 5:24 a.m. ETKiana HayeriReporting from ViennaIranian authorities arrested 53 people whom they said were linked to Israel and had been charged with disturbing public opinion, possessing and operating drones, filming sensitive locations and sending that footage to “hostile media outlets,” Iran’s Fars news agency reported. The people were arrested in Fars province, located in southern Iran near the Persian Gulf.June 22, 2025, 5:08 a.m. ETA satellite photo from February showing the aboveground part of the Fordo nuclear facility, south of Tehran. In structures buried deep underground, the facility enriches uranium.Credit...Maxar Tech/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesIran’s most heavily fortified nuclear site is at Fordo, a hilly area south of Tehran and about 15 miles away from Qum, a city where more than a million people live.Iran built the heart of the Fordo Fuel Enrichment Plant deep inside a mountain in order to withstand an attack. Experts had said the enrichment facilities were impervious to all but a repeated assault from American “bunker buster” bombs. A U.S. official said that six B-2 bombers dropped a dozen 30,000-pound bunker buster bombs on the Fordo site on Sunday.President Trump said the U.S. strikes on Fordo and two other Iranian nuclear sites, Natanz and Isfahan, had been successful, and that the facilities had been “completely and totally obliterated.” Iran confirmed that the sites had been hit, calling the attack “a violent act against international laws,” but did not comment on the extent of any damage.The U.N.’s nuclear watchdog said it had not detected any increase in off-site radiation levels at the three Iranian nuclear sites following the U.S. attack, and that it was continuing to assess the situation and would provide further updates.The Fordo site contains thousands of Iran’s most advanced centrifuges and is considered crucial for Iran to enrich uranium to 60 percent, a level from which enrichment to bomb grade — 90 percent or higher — can be relatively rapid. The government in Tehran kept the facility secret for years, but its existence emerged in Western intelligence and Iran formally disclosed the site in 2009.In March 2023, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, reported that it had discovered uranium that had been enriched to 83.7 percent purity at Fordo.Iran has long maintained that its nuclear program, which is spread over several sites and facilities, is solely for peaceful use.For years, however, Israel has viewed an assault on Fordo as central to its goal of destroying Iran’s ability to acquire nuclear weapons, something that Mr. Netanyahu has called an existential threat to his country.Just before the Israeli government began its military campaign on June 13, the I.A.E.A. said that Iran was not complying with its nuclear nonproliferation obligations, the first time the agency had passed a resolution against the country in 20 years.Yan Zhuang contributed reporting.June 22, 2025, 5:06 a.m. ETFor many Israelis, the war in Gaza and the Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity have taken a momentary backseat amid the crisis with Iran. But on Sunday morning, the Israeli government announced that soldiers had recovered the bodies of three Israeli hostages held in Gaza. Two of them were civilians: Yonatan Samerano, 21, and Ofra Keidar, a 70-year-old grandmother. A third, Shay Levinson, 19, was an Israeli soldier.June 22, 2025, 4:52 a.m. ETBahrain, an island nation in the Persian Gulf that hosts an American naval base, warned residents to use main roads “only when necessary” today. The government also asked civil servants to work from home today at a 70 percent rate. The U.S. strikes on Iran have ushered in a period of high alert in the region, where more than 40,000 American troops are on bases and warships, as the Pentagon braces for retaliation.June 22, 2025, 4:49 a.m. ETAn Israeli airstrike on a logistics base in Tabriz, northwestern Iran, injured two people, according to the Tasnim news agency, which is closely affiliated with Iran’s government.June 22, 2025, 4:36 a.m. ETAaron Boxerman and Gabby SobelmanAaron Boxerman reported from Jerusalem, and Gabby Sobelman from Ness Ziona, central Israel.Emergency responders at the site of an Iranian strike in Ness Ziona, Israel, on Sunday morning.Credit...Avishag Shaar-Yashuv for The New York TimesIran fired a barrage of ballistic missiles at targets across Israel on Sunday morning, in a volley that wrecked buildings but left relatively few casualties, according to Israeli authorities, just hours after President Trump announced that the U.S. military struck three Iranian nuclear sites.At least 16 people were wounded in the Iranian attack, most of them lightly, according to Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency service. One man was rushed to the hospital in moderate condition with shrapnel wounds, the paramedics said.Israel and the United States are bracing for retaliation in the wake of the American attack on Iran’s nuclear program. There are fears that Iranian forces or their militant proxies across the Middle East would respond to the bombardment by attacking American troops or U.S. allies, which could lead to further fighting.Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday morning that the country would defend its territory and security “by all force and means” against the U.S. attack, which it called “a grave and unprecedented violation” of international law.As of Saturday evening, Israeli strikes had killed more than 400 people in Iran, according to the Iranian Health Ministry. Iran’s strikes on Israel killed at least 24 people, according to the Israeli government.Before Sunday morning’s barrage, air-raid sirens blared out across northern and central Israel, warning of an impending Iranian missile attack, ordering much of the country to enter fortified bomb shelters.After the attack subsided, search and rescue forces headed to sites across the country where Iranian missiles were believed to have evaded Israel’s air defenses, according to the Israeli military.The Israeli police said officers were responding to impact sites in and around the coastal cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. Magen David Adom published images showing paramedics amid buildings and cars damaged in the attack.In a statement reported by Iranian state news media, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said that its forces had fired ballistic missiles at Israeli targets, including the country’s Ben Gurion International Airport, near Tel Aviv. The statement did not refer to the American attack on the Iranian nuclear sites.In Ness Ziona — an affluent community in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area — an Iranian missile struck a quiet neighborhood, hollowing out some houses to bare cement shells. Cars smashed by the blast lay on the side of the road.Sappers pushed residents and onlookers back from the area, stepping through broken glass and pieces of shrapnel. A firefighter guided a man who was carrying two crying children away from a red car with shattered windows.Hadas Bar, 58, sat outside her damaged home, her hand shaking as she tried to steady a plastic cup of soda on a tilting patio table. She said she had taken shelter in a fortified safe room inside her house, along with her family and dog, when the air-raid warnings rang out.Then came the blast, which reverberated throughout the house.“The entire front of the house was torn off in the explosion,” Ms. Bar said.June 22, 2025, 4:23 a.m. ETAshley CaiBefore the American strikes on Iran, Iranian officials warned that the country would attack U.S. bases in the Middle East if the United States joined Israel’s war. Many of Iran’s missile launchers are mobile, allowing them to be positioned in more advantageous locations and maximizing the country’s firing range. Several U.S. bases and other sites with a U.S. military presence are likely within range of Iran’s ballistic missiles.Estimated range of Iran’s ballistic missilesU.S. bases or sites with recent U.S. military presenceIranIsraelIraqSyriaSaudiArabiaKuw.U.A.E.QatarBahrainOmanEgyptJordanDjiboutiTurkeyShort rangeUp to 435 milesMedium rangeUp to 1,240 milesSource: CSIS Missile Defense ProjectNote: Minimum range estimates for Iran’s missiles are shown.June 22, 2025, 4:18 a.m. ETKiana HayeriReporting from ViennaFour members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps were killed in an attack on a military base today in Qom province, according to the Mehr news agency, which is affiliated with the Iranian government. Mehr cited a spokesman for the crisis management headquarters in Qom, Morteza Heidari, who said that “a few hours ago, the hostile enemy launched projectiles at a military base,” without clarifying whether the attack was launched by Israel or the United States. The Fordo uranium enrichment facility, which came under U.S. attack, is also located in Qom province.June 22, 2025, 4:01 a.m. ETThe foreign ministry of Oman, which had been serving as a mediator in the nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran, said in a statement that it “expressed deep concern and condemnation regarding the escalation resulting from the direct airstrikes conducted by the United States” in Iran. It called the American attack a “serious violation of international law,” but appeared to avoid directly condemning the United States, Oman’s most powerful ally.June 22, 2025, 3:59 a.m. ETThe Houthi-led government that controls northwestern Yemen said it “stood completely with the Iranian people” and confirmed that the Iran-backed Houthi military was “prepared to target American ships and vessels in the Red Sea, defending its security.” The wording of the statement was somewhat muted compared to Houthi threats prior to the U.S. strikes on Iran, in which the Houthis said that if the U.S. directly attacked Iran, they would resume their attacks on American shipping. The Houthis had pledged to stop those attacks during a cease-fire announced by President Trump last month.June 22, 2025, 3:56 a.m. ETPresident Trump was joined by Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio during his address late Saturday.Credit...Pool photo by Carlos BarriaPresident Trump demanded Saturday night that Iran “must now make peace” following American military strikes on the country’s heavily fortified nuclear facilities.The prospects for renewed diplomacy that might end Iran and Israel’s war appeared elusive by Sunday morning, with defiant responses from Iranian officials and a continuation of the exchange of missiles and drones between Israel and Iran.So far, there was no evidence of Iranian retaliation against American targets in the immediate hours after the strike that Mr. Trump ordered. But Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, who just days ago was meeting with European leaders about the possibility of a negotiated end to the fighting, said in a social media post on Sunday morning that the U.S. attacks “will have everlasting consequences” and that “Iran reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest, and people.”During the talks with the Europeans on Friday, Mr. Araghchi had said that “Iran is ready to consider diplomacy once again.” But it was unclear whether Tehran was serious about negotiating an end to the fighting that would be acceptable to the United States and Israel.Mr. Araghchi said Iran would only return to talks “once the aggression is stopped and the aggressor is held accountable for the crimes committed.”For days, Mr. Trump had publicly appeared to be holding back an American strike against Iran, while urging a “complete surrender” by Tehran’s leaders. Some of the president’s political allies cited the president’s longstanding criticism of “forever wars” as evidence that Mr. Trump wanted to embrace diplomacy and negotiation instead of a new military conflict.And yet in announcing the strikes late on Saturday night, Mr. Trump rejected those urging him not to inject the United States directly into a war that could spiral throughout the region. American military officials said the B-2 bombers that dropped “bunker buster” bombs on the Iranian nuclear facilities had to travel about 37 hours to their targets.Jonathan Panikoff, the director of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative, said that Mr. Trump’s attacks were unlikely to convince Iran’s leaders to embrace negotiation in the near future.“The president’s speech this evening is more likely to be viewed by the Iranian regime as another threat rather than as an opening for diplomacy,” Mr. Panikoff said in a statement. “Iran is unlikely to believe it can simply capitulate to the United States — given that hard-liners in the Iranian regime might view such a decision as inappropriate.”He added that “without something to be able to claim a reason for a lesser response, hard-liners in the Iranian regime may ultimately win the day, which could lead to a much more dangerous outcome.”For his part, Mr. Trump appears to have concluded that Iran was not serious about a negotiated resolution after more than two months of failed diplomatic talks aimed at convincing the country’s leaders to give up their nuclear ambitions.“Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace,” Mr. Trump said in remarks to the American people late Saturday. “If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier. There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran, far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days.”June 22, 2025, 3:25 a.m. ETPrime Minister Nawaf Salam of Lebanon said that the best interests of his country are in not “being dragged in any form into the ongoing regional confrontation,” on a post on X. His statement comes amid growing concerns that Hezbollah — the Iran-backed militia in Lebanon, which has so far refrained from joining Iran in fighting Israel — may now change course and enter the conflict following U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.June 22, 2025, 3:23 a.m. ETIran’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday morning that the country would defend its territory and security “by all force and means” against the U.S. attack, which it called “a grave and unprecedented violation” of international law. “Silence in the face of such blatant aggression would plunge the world into an unprecedented level of danger and chaos,” the foreign ministry said.June 22, 2025, 3:18 a.m. ETAntónio Guterres, the U.N. Secretary General, in 2023. He described the U.S. strikes as a “dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge.” Credit...Dave Sanders for The New York TimesAmerican allies and adversaries were busy on Sunday trying to process the U.S. strikes on three nuclear sites in Iran that brought the American military directly into Israel’s war.As fears grew that the attacks could lead to more dangerous escalation across the Middle East, some leaders and diplomats condemned the strikes as others urged de-escalation.Here’s what some governments and leaders have said or done so far:United Nations: António Guterres, the U.N. secretary general, said on social media that he was “gravely alarmed,” describing the strikes as a “dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge — and a direct threat to international peace and security.” He warned of “a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control — with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region, and the world.”European Union: The bloc’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, urged all sides to return to the negotiating table. “Iran must not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon,” she said in a statement, adding that the E.U.’s foreign ministers would discuss the situation on Monday.Britain: “Iran can never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon and the US has taken action to alleviate that threat,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on social media. He called on Iran to “return to the negotiating table and reach a diplomatic solution to end this crisis.”France: Jean-Noël Barrot, the foreign minister, expressed “concern” over the U.S. bombing and said that France was “not involved in these strikes.” France opposes a nuclear-armed Iran, and only diplomacy can bring a lasting solution, he said in a statement, adding that his country was urging restraint to avoid escalation.Spain: The government expressed “utmost concern” about the situation in the Middle East and called for a return to negotiations. Spain reiterated its call for restraint and respect for international law.Australia: The government called for de-escalation and diplomacy, while echoing some of President Trump’s language about the danger of Iran’s nuclear program. “We have been clear that Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile program has been a threat to international peace and security,” it said in a statement provided to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the country’s public broadcaster.Saudi Arabia: The foreign ministry called for de-escalation and restraint, saying that it was following the situation with “deep concern.” The statement stopped short of condemning the United States, although the foreign ministry had earlier condemned Israel’s attacks in Iran. Saudi Arabia depends heavily on American military support and hosts a U.S. military base that could be a target of Iranian retaliation.Lebanon: President Joseph Aoun of Lebanon urged restraint, adding that his country must stay out of the conflict.New Zealand: Foreign Minister Winston Peters urged diplomacy, saying in a statement: “Ongoing military action in the Middle East is extremely worrying, and it is critical further escalation is avoided.”South Korea: The country’s top security officials huddled on Sunday to discuss the potential impact on South Korea’s security and economy, a spokeswoman for President Lee Jae Myung said. Mr. Lee’s office also said that the president would not attend a NATO summit meeting in the Netherlands this week, citing pressing domestic issues and “uncertainty” spawned by rising tensions in the Middle East.Mexico: The Foreign Ministry called for “diplomatic dialogue and peace” among the parties involved in the conflict. “We reiterate our call to de-escalate tensions in the region,” it added.Cuba: President Miguel Díaz-Canel said on social media that the strikes were a “dangerous escalation” of the conflict in the Middle East and threatened to draw the world into crisis.Chile: President Gabriel Boric said the attack was illegal under international law. “We demand and need peace,” he said on social media.Venezuela: Foreign Minister Yván Gil described the attack as an “illegal, unjustifiable and extremely dangerous act of aggression” in a post on the social media platform Telegram.June 22, 2025, 2:51 a.m. ETA missile struck a quiet neighborhood of family homes in Nes Ziyona, instantly reducing well-kept villas to bare cement shells and piles of broken bricks, dusted with gray powder.Credit...Avishag Shaar-Yashuv for The New York TimesVideoCreditCredit...Gabby Sobelman/The New York TimesJune 22, 2025, 2:40 a.m. ETEmergency workers responding to the site of a missile strike in the Ramat Aviv neighborhood of Tel Aviv.Credit...Daniel Berehulak/The New York TimesJune 22, 2025, 2:03 a.m. ETPrime Minister Netanyahu’s allies and his opponents welcomed President Trump’s decision to launch the attack. Trump “wrote his name tonight in golden letters in the history books,” waxed Gideon Saar, the Israeli foreign minister. Yair Lapid, the leader of Israel’s parliamentary opposition and a committed Netanyahu critic, said in a radio interview: “It was the right and correct thing for Israel, Israeli security and global security. It’s a good moment.” But Lapid also added that Israel should now aim to wrap up the war with Iran, saying that its “main objectives had been achieved.”June 22, 2025, 1:53 a.m. ETIsrael has begun a series of strikes on military targets in western Iran, its military said on social media.June 22, 2025, 1:49 a.m. ETIsraeli paramedics now say 16 people were wounded in the Iranian missile attack. Israel’s public broadcaster is playing footage from one of the impact sites, showing a multi-story building hollowed out by an explosion on a street full of rubble.June 22, 2025, 1:41 a.m. ETA rescue worker evacuating children from a site in Haifa, Israel, after Iran launched missiles.Credit...Baz Ratner/Associated PressCredit...Baz Ratner/Associated PressJune 22, 2025, 12:07 a.m. ETFarnaz FassihiFarnaz Fassihi has lived and worked in Iran, has covered the country for three decades and was a war correspondent in the Middle East for 15 years.Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, in Geneva on Friday.Credit...Fabrice Coffrini/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesIran’s clerical rulers have a long history of open animosity toward the United States.From vowing “Death to America” to striking an American base in Iraq after the U.S. assassination of Iran’s top general, the Iranian government has repeatedly gone to the brink of direct military confrontation with the United States, only to pull back.Now, with the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, the conflict enters a more dangerous phase.After the strikes, Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, said on social media that Iran had a legitimate right to respond to U.S. attacks on its nuclear facilities and warned that “Iran reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest, and people.”He accused the United States of violating the U.N. charter and international law, adding, “The events this morning are outrageous and will have everlasting consequences.”Two senior Iranian officials said in text messages that, before the strikes, there had been hope that Mr. Trump could be dissuaded by those around him who opposed another American war in the Middle East. Mr. Araghchi had been in Turkey for meetings, and his diplomatic outreach to European counterparts, to Arab leaders in the region, and to Turkey, was part of an effort to rally support, according to the two officials.But it failed. The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran confirmed the U.S. strikes in a statement, saying that around dawn Sunday Iran’s three nuclear sites, Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan, “were attacked in a violent act against international laws, including the Non-Proliferation Treaty, by the enemies of Islamic Iran.”So far throughout the war with Israel, Iran has refrained from direct attacks on U.S. troops and interests in the Middle East. But Iran’s military commanders have warned that American entry into war would bring retaliation.The former commander in chief of the Revolutionary Guards Corps, Gen. Mohsen Rezaei, who has a seat at Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, warned on state television hours before the attack that if Mr. Trump entered the war, Iran would strike at American military bases, blow up naval mines in the Persian Gulf and move to close the Strait of Hormuz.Iran can wreak havoc on the global transit of energy. About 20 million barrels of crude oil and oil products move through the Strait of Hormuz daily.On Friday, Mr. Araghchi told NBC News that “when there is a war, both sides attack each other. That’s quite understandable.” He added that Iran reserved the right to retaliate against a U.S. attack, as it has against Israel’s. “Self-defense is a legitimate right of every country,” he said.But Iran’s options are grim. And whatever it does will be a turning point for the Islamic Republic’s nearly five-decade rule.If it retaliates against the United States, it could face a major war that leads to its collapse or to years of instability, a fate like that of Iraq and Afghanistan.If it retreats, accepting a cease-fire, it would be a shell of its former self, with its nuclear capacities crippled, its military depleted and little leverage to negotiate for relief from debilitating sanctions.Iran’s stature in the region, where it has long been viewed as an influential power player, would also be diminished.“If we do not react, the U.S. will not leave us alone right now when it can so easily come and strike us and leave,” Reza Salehi, a conservative political analyst in Tehran, said in a telephone interview after the attacks. “The big challenge that we face this week is that if we go to the negotiating table, the other side will have more and newer demands, such as our defense abilities, and that will make things complicated.”The American strikes could also prompt retaliation from Iran’s allied militias in the region. But Israel has weakened Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, and Iraqi militias have mostly retreated from attacking American bases.That leaves the Houthi militia of Yemen, a country sitting along a critical international shipping lane. The Houthis had threatened to break their May truce with Mr. Trump and attack U.S. targets if Washington supported the Israeli attacks on Iran.“In the event that the Americans become involved in the attack and aggression against Iran alongside the Israeli enemy, the armed forces will target their ships and warships in the Red Sea,” their military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said earlier Saturday.Before Israel launched its surprise attack on June 13, Iran and the United States had been holding negotiations, mediated by Oman, to curb Iran’s advancing nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. The United States demanded that Iran dismantle its program and stop enriching uranium. The U.S. had also proposed that Iran enter into a nuclear consortium with Arab countries for access to civilian-grade nuclear fuel.Iran was preparing a response, but officials had said that giving up enrichment of uranium on Iran’s soil was a red line, and they would not dismantle the program.Those talks collapsed after the Israeli attack, two days before Iran and the United States were scheduled to meet in Oman.June 21, 2025, 10:44 p.m. ETSpeaker Mike Johnson, center, released a statement saying the strikes were necessary.Credit...Haiyun Jiang for The New York TimesTop Republicans in Congress swiftly rallied behind President Trump on Saturday after he ordered strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites, even as senior Democrats and some G.O.P. lawmakers condemned it as an unconstitutional move that could drag the United States into a broader war in the Middle East.In separate statements, the leading Republicans in Congress, Speaker Mike Johnson and Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the majority leader, commended the military operation, calling it a necessary check on Iran’s ambitions of developing a nuclear weapon. Both men had been briefed on the military action before the strike was carried out, according to three people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to discuss it publicly.Mr. Johnson and Mr. Thune both argued that the airstrikes were necessary after Iran had rejected diplomatic overtures to curb its nuclear program.“The regime in Iran, which has committed itself to bringing ‘death to America’ and wiping Israel off the map, has rejected all diplomatic pathways to peace,” Mr. Thune said.Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota, said that Iran rejected pathways to peace.Credit...Tierney L. Cross/The New York TimesMr. Johnson argued that the military action was consistent with Mr. Trump’s muscular foreign policy.“President Trump has been consistent and clear that a nuclear-armed Iran will not be tolerated,” he said. “That posture has now been enforced with strength, precision and clarity.”But top Democrats, who were given only perfunctory notice of the strikes before they occurred, harshly criticized the move.“President Trump misled the country about his intentions, failed to seek congressional authorization for the use of military force and risks American entanglement in a potentially disastrous war in the Middle East,” Representative Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, said in a statement. He said the president “shoulders complete and total responsibility for any adverse consequences that flow from his unilateral military action.”Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, demanded “clear answers” from Mr. Trump on the operation and called for an immediate vote on legislation that would require explicit authorization from Congress for the use of military force.“The danger of wider, longer, and more devastating war has now dramatically increased,” he said.Representative Jim Himes, the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, condemned the operation as unconstitutional and warned that it could drag the United States into a larger conflict.“Donald Trump’s decision to launch direct military action against Iran without congressional approval is a clear violation of the Constitution, which grants the power to declare war explicitly to Congress,” he said in a statement. “It is impossible to know at this stage whether this operation accomplished its objectives. We also don’t know if this will lead to further escalation in the region and attacks against our forces, events that could easily pull us even deeper into a war in the Middle East.”While Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas and the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, called Mr. Trump’s move “the right call,” the top Democrat on the panel, Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, said he had taken steps that could drag the United States into a war “without consulting Congress, without a clear strategy, without regard to the consistent conclusions of the intelligence community, and without explaining to the American people what’s at stake.”Leading national security Democrats on Capitol Hill were not informed of the strikes until after Mr. Trump had posted about them on social media, according to three people familiar with the matter who would discuss it only on the condition of anonymity.And one high-profile Democrat, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, called the operation grounds for impeachment.“He has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations. It is absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez of New York said in a post on social media.Democrats widely condemned the surprise attack as unconstitutional. But Ms. Ocasio-Cortez was the first on Saturday to say it was grounds for Trump’s removal, breaking with party leaders who have avoided talk of impeachment since the president returned to the White House, after two failed attempts to remove him during his first term. The Constitution gives Congress the authority to declare war, but in modern times, presidents of both parties have unilaterally carried out attacks on other countries without congressional authorization. It has been decades since Congress voted on whether to authorize military force, and efforts to claw back the legislative branch’s war powers have repeatedly stalled.Most of the praise immediately following the operation in Iran came from Republicans, many of whom argued that the bombings would not lead to a ground deployment of American forces in the region.“To those concerned about U.S. involvement — this isn’t a ‘forever war’ in fact, it’s ending one,” Senator Markwayne Mullin, Republican of Oklahoma, said on social media.Senator Roger Wicker, the Republican chairman of the Armed Services Committee, called Mr. Trump’s decision to strike in Iran “deliberate” and “correct.”“We now have very serious choices ahead to provide security for our citizens and our allies and stability for the Middle East,” Mr. Wicker said in a statement.Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, whose unqualified support for Israel has put him at odds with other members of his party, was one of the few Democrats to offer an immediate statement of support. He wrote on social media that the military action “was the correct move.”“Iran is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism and cannot have nuclear capabilities,” Mr. Fetterman added. “I’m grateful for and salute the finest military in the world.”Other lawmakers, many of them Democrats who had already expressed concerns that the Trump administration was considering sidestepping Congress’s constitutional power to declare war, immediately criticized the strikes on the nuclear sites.Representative Thomas Massie, center, said the strikes were not constitutional.Credit...Eric Lee/The New York TimesMr. Trump, “did not come to Congress to explain his reasons for bombing a sovereign nation and to seek authorization for these strikes,” Representative Diana DeGette, Democrat of Colorado, said in a statement. “These reckless actions are going to put the lives of American service members and American citizens at risk.”Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, who earlier this week introduced a bipartisan resolution that would require congressional approval before U.S. troops could engage in offensive attacks against Iran, wrote on social media that the attack was “not Constitutional.”Carl Hulse and Megan Mineiro contributed reporting.