DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United States inserted itself into Israel’s war against Iran early Sunday by dropping 30,000-pound bombs on an uranium enrichment site buried under a mountain, a risky gambit that aimed to destroy the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program after months of failed diplomacy. The attack prompted fears of a wider regional conflict as Iran lashed out at the U.S. for crossing ‘’a very big red line.’’
The U.S. also fired dozens of missiles, and President Donald Trump said in a televised address from the White House that the combination of strikes ‘’completely and fully obliterated’’ three nuclear sites. However, U.S. defense officials said an assessment of the damage wrought by the attack still was ongoing.
Hours later, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the time for diplomacy had passed and that his country had the right to defend itself. Araghchi said he would immediate fly to Moscow to coordinate positions with its ally, Russia.
‘’The warmongering and 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. ‘’They crossed a very big red line by attacking nuclear facilities."
The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran confirmed that attacks took place on the Fordo and Natanz enrichment facilities as well as its Isfahan nuclear site, 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.
Countries around the globe are calling for diplomacy and no further escalation.
It was not clear whether the U.S. would continue attacking Iran alongside its ally Israel, which has been engaged in a war with Iran for nine days. But U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. does not ‘’seek war’’ and that the operation would not be ‘’open-ended,’’ though Trump earlier warned there would be additional strikes if Tehran retaliated against U.S. forces.
‘’There will either be peace or there will be tragedy for Iran,’’ said Trump, who acted without congressional authorization.