United States jets attacked three nuclear sites in Iran, and at the same time, Donald Trump raised the idea of regime change in the Islamic Republic while Tehran weighed retaliation for American strikes. On Sunday, Iranian officials pledged to defend their land, one day after the US forces joined Israel in the biggest Western military operation against the country since its 1979 Islamic Revolution, despite calls for restraint and a return to diplomacy from global nations.
Commercial satellite imagery showed that the US’s Saturday attack targeted Iran’s underground Fordow nuclear facility, resulting in significant damage or destruction to the deeply buried site and the uranium-enriching centrifuges it housed. The status of the attacked site remains unconfirmed, according to experts.
Iranian military officials and members of parliament have pledged that the US will incur consequences for its attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Simultaneously, Trump hinted at the potential for regime change in Iran through a social media post on Sunday. To date, there has been no response from Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.
Trump Urged Iran to Refrain from Retaliation
In his most recent social media comments regarding the US strikes, Trump stated, “Monumental damage was done to all nuclear sites in Iran.” He further emphasized, “The biggest damage took place far below ground level. Bullseye!!!” on his Truth Social platform. Previously, Trump urged Iran to refrain from retaliation, asserting that the government “must now make peace” or face the likelihood that “future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier.”
The US deployed 75 precision-guided munitions, including bunker-buster bombs and more than twenty-four Tomahawk missiles, targeting three Iranian nuclear facilities, as stated by General Dan Caine, 22nd Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The International Atomic Energy Agency reported no increase in off-site radiation levels following the US military actions. Rafael Grossi, the Director General of the agency, informed CNN that an assessment of the underground damage could not yet be determined.
Israel Hits Notorious Iranian Prison
The Israeli military conducted an operation targeting the entrance of Iran’s renowned Evin Prison on Monday, as reported by Israel’s Minister of Defense and Iranian state media, representing the most recent military action in Tehran. Footage disseminated by Iran’s official broadcaster, IRIB, and corroborated by CNN, shows a substantial black cloud enveloping the gateway to Evin Prison.
The video depicts the “moment the entrance gate of the prison was targeted,” as stated by IRIB news. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed in a statement that Evin had been targeted, along with several other sites, including the main building of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Basij headquarters (a paramilitary wing of the IRGC), and the clock counting down to the “destruction of Israel” in Tehran’s Palestine Square.
The Israeli military announced on Monday that it is persistently conducting strikes on Tehran, Iran’s capital, with a particular focus on the headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). “Currently, we continue to impair and reduce the missile launching and manufacturing capacities of the Iranian regime,” stated Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Defrin indicated that Israeli aircraft are presently “intensifying the damage in the Tehran area, with an emphasis on the IRGC headquarters.” Since Israel initiated operations against Iran on June 13, several senior IRGC officials have been killed within Iran, alongside targeted actions against the country’s nuclear facilities.
