Trump likens US air strikes on Iran to atomic bombing of Hiroshima
Donald Trump additionally likened the US strikes on Iran to his nation’s resolution to drop atomic bombs on Japan within the second world conflict.
Talking at The Hague, Trump stated: “They spent trillions of {dollars} attempting to do that factor, and so they didn’t provide you with it, and we’re really getting together with them very effectively proper now.
“However had we not succeeded with that hit? That hit ended the conflict. That hit ended the conflict. I don’t wish to use an instance of Hiroshima, I don’t wish to use an instance of Nagasaki, however that was basically the identical factor that ended that conflict. This ended that, this ended that conflict. If we didn’t take that out, they might have been they’d be combating proper now.”
President Donald Trump speaks throughout a gathering with Nato secretary normal Mark Rutte on the Nato summit in The Hague, the Netherlands, Wednesday, 25 June 2025. {Photograph}: Alex Brandon/APShare
Up to date at 05.19 EDT
Key occasions
Present key occasions solely
Please activate JavaScript to make use of this characteristic
Pope Leo XIV urged the warring sides within the Israel-Iran conflict to “reject the logic of bullying and revenge” and select a path of dialogue and diplomacy to succeed in peace as he expressed solidarity with all Christians within the Center East.
Talking at his weekly Wednesday normal viewers, the American pope stated he was following “with consideration and hope” current developments within the conflict. He cited the biblical exhortation: “A nationwide shall not elevate the sword in opposition to one other nation.”
A ceasefire is holding within the 12-day Iran-Israel battle, which concerned Israel focusing on Iranian nuclear and army websites and the US intervening by dropping bunker-buster bombs on Iranian nuclear websites. Iran has lengthy maintained that its nuclear program is peaceable.
Pope Leo XIV leads the weekly Normal Viewers in Saint Peter’s Sq., Vatican Metropolis, 25 June 2025. {Photograph}: Riccardo Antimiani/EPAShare
Up to date at 05.10 EDT
US President Donald Trump additionally stated on Wednesday that the intelligence following the strikes on Iranian nuclear websites was inconclusive, however advised the harm might have been extreme.
“The intelligence was very inconclusive. The intelligence says we don’t know. It might’ve been very extreme. That’s what the intelligence suggests,” Trump instructed reporters forward of assembly with world leaders at a NATO summit.
“It was very extreme. There was obliteration,” he added. In the identical remarks, he had stated the assault on Iran had been “devastating”.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with NATO Secretary Normal Mark Rutte, as U.S. Secretary of Protection Pete Hegseth, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White Home Chief of Workers Susie Wiles and U.S. ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker sit, on the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, June 25, 2025. {Photograph}: Brian Snyder/ReutersShare
Up to date at 05.09 EDT
Donald Trump has referred to as US strikes on Iran “a devastating assault”, as he reiterated his criticism of media retailers which reported Iran’s nuclear programme had not been set again greater than by a couple of months.
The US President, talking on the Hague, stated: “No person talks about this, we shot 30 Tomahawks from submarines – specifically one submarine that was 400 miles away – and each a kind of Tomahawks hit inside a foot of the place they had been alleged to hit, took out a variety of constructing that Israel wasn’t in a position to get.
“This was a devastating assault and it knocked them for a loop and you realize if it didn’t they wouldn’t have settled.”
US secretary of defence Pete Hegseth added that the harm in Iran is “reasonable to extreme” and stated the FBI is investigating nuclear websites leaks. He stated leakers had characterised the assault in a approach that was “utterly false”.
US secretary of defence Pete Hegseth says the harm in Iran is “reasonable to extreme”.
He added that the FBI is investigating nuclear websites leaks. pic.twitter.com/K700WV7al3
— Sky Information (@SkyNews) June 25, 2025
Share
As the delicate Iran-Israel truce took maintain, there was no letup in Turkey’s diplomatic efforts on Wednesday to forestall any return to a battle fraught with danger for Ankara’s home and regional insurance policies.
Hours after US President Donald Trump introduced the ceasefire, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met him for talks on the sidelines of a Nato summit for his or her third dialog in 10 days.
Erdogan’s “intensive diplomatic efforts” to curb the battle additionally concerned calls with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian and high Center Japanese leaders.
“Turkey has been attempting very exhausting to de-escalate the scenario, nevertheless it’s not seen as a reputable mediator, neither by Iran nor by Israel,” Gonul Tol of the Washington-based Center East Institute instructed AFP.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at Nato in The Hague, the Netherlands, on 24 June. {Photograph}: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/ShutterstockShare
Up to date at 04.44 EDT
Iran’s lawmakers chanted “Demise to America” and “Demise to Israel” after they voted on Wednesday in favour of suspending cooperation with the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, state TV reported.
The choice nonetheless requires the approval of the Guardian Council, a physique empowered to vet laws.
In parliament, 221 lawmakers voted in favour and one abstained, with no votes in opposition to from these current in within the 290-seat legislature, in accordance with state TV.
Share
Iran’s parliament approves invoice to droop cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog
Iran’s parliament authorised a invoice on Wednesday to droop cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, state-affiliated information outlet Nournews reported. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf was quoted by state media as additionally saying Iran would speed up its civilian nuclear programme.
Tehran denies in search of nuclear weapons and says a decision adopted this month by the Worldwide Atomic Vitality Company (IAEA) declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations paved the best way for Israel’s assaults.
The parliament speaker was quoted as saying the IAEA had refused even to seem to sentence the assault on Iran’s nuclear services and “has put its worldwide credibility up on the market.”
He stated that “because of this, the Atomic Vitality Organisation of Iran will droop its cooperation with the Company till the safety of the nuclear services is assured, and transfer at a quicker tempo with the nation’s peaceable nuclear programme”.
Iranian parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf in Beirut, Lebanon, 12 October 2024. {Photograph}: Amr Abdallah Dalsh/ReutersShare
Up to date at 04.13 EDT
A spokesperson for China’s overseas ministry has commented on Donald Trump’s Reality Social publish, through which the US President stated China can proceed to buy Iranian oil.
Guo Jiakun stated on Wednesday that China would undertake cheap vitality safety measures in accordance with its personal nationwide pursuits, when requested in regards to the Trump publish at a daily press briefing.
Bigger purchases of Iranian oil by China and different shoppers might upset US ally Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter. The influence of US sanctions on Iran’s exports, nevertheless, has been restricted since Trump’s first administration when he cracked down more durable on Tehran.
China has lengthy opposed what it has referred to as Washington’s “abuse of unlawful unilateral sanctions.”
Chinese language Ministry of Overseas Affairs spokesperson Guo Jiakun participates in a press convention in Beijing, China, 23 June 2025. {Photograph}: Jessica Lee/EPAShare
Iran ‘a lot additional away from nuclear weapon’ after strikes, Marco Rubio says
US secretary of state Marco Rubio instructed Politico on Wednesday that Iran is “a lot additional away from a nuclear weapon” after a US strike on Iran’s three major nuclear websites over the weekend.
“The underside line is, they’re much additional away from a nuclear weapon in the present day than they had been earlier than the president took this daring motion,” Rubio instructed Politico.
“Vital, very important, substantial harm was carried out to quite a lot of totally different parts, and had been simply studying extra about it, he added.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio at a Home overseas affairs committee listening to in Washington DC on 21 Could. {Photograph}: Elizabeth Frantz/ReutersShare
Iran to carry state funerals for high scientists killed in strikes
Iran will maintain on Saturday state funerals for senior army commanders and high scientists killed through the nation’s 12-day conflict with Israel, official media stated.
“The nationwide funeral ceremony for… commanders and scientists martyred within the Zionist regime’s aggression can be held on Saturday from 8:00 am (0430 GMT)“ in Tehran, state information company IRNA reported on Wednesday, a day after a ceasefire took maintain.
IRNA additionally reported that Hossein Salami, the Revolutionary Guards chief killed by Israel on the conflict’s first day, can be laid to relaxation on Thursday in central Iran.
Israel on June 13 launched a significant bombardment marketing campaign focusing on Iranian nuclear and army websites and killing high officers together with Salami, who was near Iran’s supreme chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
An Iranian girl holds a poster of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, proper, and Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an anti-U.S. and anti-Israeli rally at Enqelab-e-Eslami (Islamic Revolution) sq. in downtown Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. {Photograph}: Vahid Salemi/APShare
Nuclear weapons are entrance of thoughts for many individuals after the US struck a variety of Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons websites.
However what number of international locations have nuclear weapons? Which international locations are able to constructing nuclear weapons? What’s the non-proliferation treaty? And why are some international locations allowed to have nuclear weapons and never others?
Guardian Australia’s Matilda Boseley explains:
Which international locations have nuclear weapons – and are they seemingly to make use of them? – video Share
Up to date at 03.19 EDT
It was as shut as Donald Trump may get to a lucid assertion of his governing doctrine. “I could do it. I could not do it,” the president stated to reporters on the White Home garden. “No person is aware of what I’m going to do.”
The query was about becoming a member of Israeli air strikes on Iran’s nuclear services. Days later, US bombers had been on their approach. Some anticipated it to occur. Others, together with Keir Starmer, had gone on file to say they didn’t. Nobody had recognized. The unpredictability doctrine wouldn’t have been violated both approach.
Within the Center East as in Ukraine, the president is discovering that straightforward bullying tips don’t resolve advanced worldwide crises, Rafael Behr writes:
Share
Oil costs edged increased on Wednesday, discovering some respite after plummeting within the final two classes, as buyers assessed the steadiness of the ceasefire and the diminished prospect of an Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Israel’s army lifted restrictions on exercise throughout the nation at 8 p.m. native time (1700 GMT) on Tuesday, and officers stated Ben Gurion Airport, the nation’s major airport close to Tel Aviv, had reopened. Iran’s airspace likewise can be reopened, state-affiliated Nournews reported.
The truce seems fragile: Each Israel and Iran took hours to acknowledge they’d accepted the ceasefire and accused one another of violating it.
A member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard stands guard at Enqelab-e-Eslami (Islamic Revolution) sq. in downtown Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. {Photograph}: Vahid Salemi/APShare
The greenback struggled to regain misplaced floor on Wednesday as buyers determined to tackle extra danger following a fragile truce between Israel and Iran.
Markets had been jubilant and an index of worldwide shares hit a file excessive in a single day as a shaky ceasefire brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump took maintain between Iran and Israel.
The 2 nations signalled that the air conflict between them had ended, at the very least for now, after Trump publicly scolded them for violating a ceasefire he introduced.
Share
Abstract
The shaky ceasefire between Israel and Iran seemed to be holding after Donald Trump expressed deep frustration with either side for violating the settlement he brokered. Israel earlier accused Iran of launching missiles into its airspace after the truce was alleged to take impact, whereas the Iranian army denied firing on Israel. Iran and Israel each stated they might honour the ceasefire if the opposite facet did the identical.
An preliminary categorized US evaluation of Trump’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear services says they didn’t destroy two of the websites and sure solely set again the nuclear program by a couple of months, in accordance with two individuals accustomed to the report. The report – produced by the Defence Intelligence Company, the Pentagon’s intelligence arm – concluded key parts of the nuclear program, together with centrifuges, had been able to being restarted inside months. The preliminary report additionally discovered that a lot of Iran’s stockpile of extremely enriched uranium was moved earlier than the strikes. The report contradicts statements from Trump, who has stated the Iranian nuclear program was “utterly and absolutely obliterated”.
Satellite tv for pc picture displaying harm on the Fordow uranium enrichment facility north-east of Qom, Iran, after the US strikes. {Photograph}: Maxar Applied sciences/AP
Donald Trump blasted CNN and the New York Instances, claiming they’d teamed as much as “demean one of the profitable army strikes in historical past”, and declared Iran’s nuclear websites had been “utterly destroyed”. Trump’s assertion in a publish on his Reality Social platform got here after protection of the Pentagon report on the US strikes. The White Home earlier referred to as the evaluation “flat-out fallacious”.
Benjamin Netanyahu stated Israel would strike once more if Iran rebuilt its nuclear venture. Describing his conflict on Iran as a “historic victory” that “will stand for generations”, the Israeli prime minister claimed that Israel, in its 12 days of conflict with Iran, had eliminated “the specter of nuclear annihilation”. He additionally stated he had “no intention of easing off the gasoline pedal” and Israel “should full” its marketing campaign in opposition to the Iranian axis, to defeat Hamas and to convey in regards to the launch of the remaining hostages in Gaza.
Netanyahu additionally declared that Israel “by no means had a greater pal that President Trump within the White Home”. His feedback got here solely hours after Trump directed stinging criticism at Israel over the dimensions of strikes Trump stated violated the truce with Iran negotiated by Washington, with the US president saying: “We principally have two international locations which were combating so lengthy and so exhausting that they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing.” Israel’s management was reportedly “surprised” by Trump’s rebuke.
Israel ‘by no means had a greater pal than Trump within the White Home’, says Netanyahu
Iran’s air area would reopen on Tuesday evening, Iranian state information reported, whereas Israel Residence Entrance Command stated Israeli residents might resume full exercise with out restriction for many of the nation and that Ben-Gurion and Haifa airports would return to full operations.
Donald Trump stated China might proceed to buy Iranian oil, a transfer the White Home clarified didn’t point out a leisure of US sanctions.
On the United Nations, France and its European companions are nonetheless ready to reactivate sanctions on Iran if an settlement isn’t reached quickly on its nuclear program, the French ambassador to the UN has warned.
Share
Up to date at 03.00 EDT
