Iran on Monday accused President Trump of being a “gambler” by launching large-scale airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites — warning that the US should expect to pay for joining Israel’s war against the Islamic Republic.

“Mr. Trump, the gambler, you may start this war, but we will be the ones to end it,” Ebrahim Zolfaqari, a spokesman for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya central military headquarters, vowed in a recorded video statement.

The warning came as Iran and Israel continued to trade airstrikes early Monday as the world braced for Tehran’s response to the US attack on its nuclear facilities over the weekend, which Trump signaled could lead to a change in Iran’s leadership.

President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio sit in the Situation Room as they monitor the mission that took out three Iranian nuclear enrichment sites, at the White House on June 21, 2025, in Washington, DC. Getty Images

“It’s not politically correct to use the term, ‘Regime Change,’ but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change???” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday evening.

“MIGA!!!”

Still, Trump’s administration has repeatedly stressed that its decision to drop a barrage of massive bunker-buster bombs early Sunday was solely to destroy Iran’s nuclear program rather than eliminate Iran’s leadership.

“This mission was not and has not been about regime change,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had stressed earlier Sunday.

Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio also reiterated that diplomacy was still the goal and that the US was not at war with Iran itself — just its nuclear program.

Still, Trump has also repeatedly warned of additional strikes if Tehran retaliates against US forces.

The US launched 75 precision-guided munitions, including bunker-buster bombs and more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles, against three Iranian nuclear sites early Sunday.

The strikes — which Trump called a “Bullseye!!!” — appeared to have severely damaged or destroyed Iran’s Fordow nuclear plant and the uranium-enriching centrifuges it housed, experts surveying commercial satellite imagery said.

“Monumental Damage was done to all Nuclear sites in Iran,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “The biggest damage took place far below ground level. Bullseye!!!”

US defense officials have said they are working to determine just how much damage the strikes did.

The Iranian army media office on June 23, 2025, shows army commander-in-chief Amir Hatami (center) speaking during a meeting in the War Command Room. Iranian Army Media Office/AFP via Getty Images

Trump gave the order for the attacks after his push for diplomacy on the Israel-Iran conflict hit a significant snag last week when Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei went into hiding amid fears of an assassination attempt by the Jewish state, three US officials told Axios.

Stay up to date on the latest developments in the US airstrike on Iran

Turkey had originally proposed a meeting between US and Iranian officials last week, with the discussions allegedly including Trump’s personal involvement in a cease-fire meeting.

The message was meant to be relayed to Khamenei, but the leader of the Islamic Republic could not be reached to sign off on the deal because he went radio silent, the sources said.

A map of the US bombings of Iran’s nuclear facilities. Toni Misthos/NY Post Design

With no way to strike a nuclear deal with Tehran to avoid military intervention, Trump gave the green light to bomb the Iranian nuclear facilities on Saturday.

Tehran, which denies its nuclear program is for anything other than peaceful purposes, launched a barrage of missiles toward Israel in the aftermath of the US attack — wounding scores of people and destroying buildings in Tel Aviv.

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The Israeli military said Monday that about 20 jets had conducted a wave of strikes against military targets in western Iran and Tehran overnight. ⁠

In Kermanshah, in western Iran, missile and radar infrastructure was targeted, and in Tehran, a surface-to-air missile launcher was struck, it said.

With Post wires

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres issued a grave warning on Sunday during an emergency session of the Security Council, declaring that the United States’ overnight strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities represent a dangerous escalation that threatens to plunge the region into a broader conflict and seriously undermine the global order.

“These massive strikes risk pushing the Middle East over the edge,” Guterres said, calling for an immediate halt to hostilities and urging all parties to recommit to diplomacy. “We now risk descending into a rathole of retaliation after retaliation.”

The U.S. attacks — targeting three key uranium enrichment sites — came in the wake of 10 days of intense Israeli airstrikes on Iran, which triggered daily missile exchanges between Tehran and Tel Aviv. Washington described its intervention as support for Israel’s efforts to neutralize what it sees as a growing nuclear threat.

But Guterres warned that further escalation would only bring more suffering to civilians and imperil decades of nuclear non-proliferation work. “We must act – immediately and decisively – to halt the fighting and return to serious, sustained negotiations on the Iran nuclear programme,” he said.

While reaffirming that Iran must comply fully with the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Guterres also stressed that Iran has consistently denied seeking nuclear weapons, maintaining its nuclear program is for peaceful energy use.

The UN chief drew a stark line between two possible futures: “One path leads to a wider war, deeper human suffering and serious damage to the international order. The other leads to de-escalation, diplomacy, and dialogue.”

### Nuclear Watchdog Raises Alarm

Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), echoed the Secretary-General’s concerns, warning the Council that recent strikes by both Israel and the U.S. on nuclear facilities in Iran have severely compromised nuclear safety.

“The attacks have led to a sharp degradation in nuclear safety and security,” Grossi told ambassadors, revealing that Iran’s main enrichment site at Natanz suffered major damage, including to underground halls and power systems.

While no radiation leaks have been reported so far, Grossi noted that chemical contamination within the site poses significant risks. “If inhaled or ingested, these materials can be extremely dangerous,” he said.

He cautioned that the world is at a “critical juncture,” warning that if current tensions are not defused, “the global nuclear non-proliferation regime as we know it could crumble and fall.”

Grossi urged all parties to seize the “narrow and closing” window for dialogue before irreversible damage is done.

### A Call for Global Responsibility

The emergency meeting concluded with repeated appeals from UN diplomats for restraint, dialogue, and a return to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which had placed limits on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief — until it began unraveling in recent years.

With the threat of further strikes looming, Guterres called on world powers to step up efforts to mediate and prevent the outbreak of full-scale war. “The people of the Middle East cannot endure another cycle of devastation,” he said. “Now is the moment for statesmanship, not brinkmanship.”

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in an emergency meeting on Monday that the escalating conflict in Iran “risks collapsing the global nuclear nonproliferation regime” and that if diplomacy is not pursued, “violence and destruction could reach unimaginable levels.”

The IAEA, the United Nations’ international nuclear watchdog, convened the emergency meeting following US strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites this weekend. In remarks delivered to the organization’s board of governors, Rafael Grossi, the director general of the IAEA, called for a “return to the negotiating table” to allow inspectors for the agency to safely assess damage to the sites and check in on Iran’s nuclear stockpile.

Iran has maintained to the IAEA that no additional radiation has been monitored at the sites throughout the duration of the attacks. IAEA inspectors have not been able to inspect the sites since the crisis began earlier this month.

“IAEA inspectors are in Iran, and they are ready,” Grossi said on Monday. He added that “no one, including the IAEA, is in a position to assess the underground damage at Fordow,” but he expected that the strikes did “very significant damage.”

Fordow, a centerpiece of Iran’s nuclear program and a uranium enrichment facility, was one of three sites struck by US bombs this weekend. Fordow has nearly 3,000 centrifuges stored some 90 meters underground. It was unclear as of Monday morning just how much damage the strikes did to the Fordow site, although some of the damage was visible from satellites. Natanz, another enrichment facility, as well as an important nuclear research facility near the city of Isfahan, which operates three small research reactors, were also attacked. (Israeli forces had also previously targeted Isfahan.)

A building at the campus of the Weizmann Institute of Science remains damaged following an Iranian missile strike on Sunday, in Rehovot, Israel June 19, 2025. REUTERS

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) today (22 June) said “the criminal American regime” has not learned the lessons of past Middle East wars and will suffer the consequences after bombing Iran.

“The US’s repetition of past failed follies demonstrates strategic incompetence and disregard for the realities on the ground in the region,” the IRGC said in a statement.

It added that instead of learning from repeated failures, Washington has effectively placed itself on the front lines of aggression by “directly attacking peaceful [nuclear] installations.”

According to Al Jazeera, the paramilitary force said the flight locations of the US aircraft that participated in the attack “have been identified and monitored”.

The number, dispersion and size of US military bases in the region are not a strength but have doubled their vulnerability, the Revolutionary Guard warned.

Earlier today, Iranian state television declared that all American civilians and military personnel in the region are now considered “legitimate targets” in the wake of US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

The warning came after US President Donald Trump confirmed that American forces had joined Israel in launching coordinated strikes on Iran.

“We have completed our very successful attack on the three nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The US military carried out airstrikes on three locations in Iran early today, marking a direct intervention in Israel’s ongoing offensive aimed at dismantling Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

The strikes targeted the underground Fordo uranium enrichment facility—considered the heart of Iran’s nuclear defences—with six 15-tonne bunker-buster bombs dropped from B-2 stealth bombers. In addition, 30 Tomahawk cruise missiles were reportedly launched from US submarines, hitting sites in Natanz and Isfahan, according to Fox News.

Trump confirmed the operation during an interview, describing it as a “precision mission” aimed at crippling Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

“All planes are safely on their way home,” he wrote on social media, praising US forces and adding, “Now is the time for peace.”

However, Iran announced that its nuclear facilities in Isfahan, Fordo and Natanz showed “no signs of contamination” following US military strikes on the sites.

According to Iranian state media, the country’s National Nuclear Safety System Center released a statement confirming that radiation detectors had found no evidence of a radioactive leak.

“There is no danger to the residents living around the aforementioned sites,” the statement said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency also noted that previous Israeli strikes on similar facilities had not resulted in any detected radiation release in surrounding areas.

According to AP, the current military campaign, named “Operation Rising Lion” by Israel, began with coordinated strikes on Iranian nuclear sites on 13 June. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the operation targeted multiple nuclear facilities across Iran.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the campaign, calling it a preemptive measure against an “imminent threat to Israel’s very survival” posed by Iran’s nuclear program.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on that day confirmed several senior military officials and scientists were killed in the Israeli airstrikes on Tehran. Among those killed was Iran’s former national security chief, Ali Shamkhani.

“The assassination of Ali Shamkhani was also confirmed,” Iranian state media reported.

These attacks are considered the most serious Iran has faced since the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.

Iran said on Monday that the US attack on its nuclear sites expanded the range of legitimate targets for its armed forces and called US president Donald Trump a “gambler” for joining Israel’s military campaign against the Islamic Republic.

Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya central military headquarters, said the US should expect heavy consequences for its actions.

“Mr Trump, the gambler, you may start this war, but we will be the ones to end it,” Zolfaqari said in English at the end of a recorded video statement.

Iran and Israel traded air and missile strikes as the world braced for Tehran’s response to the US attack on its nuclear sites over the weekend, which Trump suggested could lead to the overthrow of the Iranian government.

Commercial satellite imagery indicated Saturday’s attack on Iran’s Fordow nuclear plant far underground had severely damaged or destroyed the site and the uranium-enriching centrifuges it housed, but its status remained unconfirmed, experts said.

In his latest social media comments on the US strikes, Trump said: “Monumental Damage was done to all Nuclear sites in Iran.”

“The biggest damage took place far below ground level. Bullseye!!!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Trump earlier called on Iran to forgo any retaliation and said the government “must now make peace” or future attacks would be “far greater and a lot easier”, fuelling global concern about further escalation of conflict in the Middle East.

This satellite picture by Planet Labs PBC shows Iran’s underground nuclear enrichment site at Fordo on March 19, 2025. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

The US launched 75 precision-guided munitions including bunker-buster bombs and more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles against three Iranian nuclear sites, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, told reporters.

The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said no increases in off-site radiation levels had been reported after the US strikes. Rafael Grossi, the agency’s director general, told CNN that it was not yet possible to assess the damage done underground.

A senior Iranian source told Reuters that most of the highly enriched uranium at Fordow had been moved elsewhere before the attack. Reuters could not immediately corroborate the claim.

Tehran, which denies its nuclear programme is for anything other than peaceful purposes, launched a volley of missiles towards Israel in the aftermath of the US attack, wounding scores of people and destroying buildings in Tel Aviv.

But it has not acted on its main options for retaliation, to attack US bases or choke off the 20% of global oil shipments that pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

Attempting to strangle the strait could send global oil prices skyrocketing, derail the world economy and invite conflict with the US Navy’s massive Fifth Fleet based in nearby Bahrain.