US President Donald Trump has said on Tuesday that the United States will attack Iran’s nuclear facilities again if necessary.
“Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi on the Iranian nuclear facilities: “The damage is very serious, they are destroyed.” Of course, it is as I said, and we will do it again if necessary!” Trump wrote on social media platform The Truth.
The American leader also sharply criticised CNN, demanding the immediate dismissal of a “lying reporter” and a public apology to himself and the military personnel involved in the destruction of Iranian facilities.
Earlier, in an interview with Fox News, the head of the Iranian Foreign Ministry acknowledged that the country’s nuclear facilities had suffered significant damage after the US strikes. “The extent of the damage is still being assessed, but as far as I know, it is serious,” the diplomat said.
Operation against Iran
On the night of June 13, Israel launched a military operation against Iran, accusing it of secretly developing nuclear weapons. The main targets of the air strikes and sabotage attacks were nuclear facilities, military command centres, leading nuclear scientists, air bases, air defence systems and surface-to-surface missiles.
Iran rejected the accusations and responded with strikes. The conflict escalated into an exchange of attacks that lasted 12 days.
On June 22, the US Air Force struck three Iranian nuclear sites in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. Trump then called on Tehran to end the conflict, warning that otherwise the consequences would be “even more severe.”
The position of the media and intelligence
Some American publications, citing a US Defence Department intelligence report, wrote that the attacks did not destroy key components of Iran’s nuclear programme. According to preliminary estimates, the programme’s development was delayed by only a few months.
The White House denied this information. Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff called the leak “treason” and stressed that Washington was confident that the targets had been destroyed. The Pentagon launched an investigation into the disclosure of the information.
