What’s Next after Iran Strikes?
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
US must ‘receive a response’ to strikes Iranian leader says – DW – 06
US Vice President JD Vance said his country was only at war with Iran’s nuclear program. Vance said the program had been pushed back following US airstrikes ordered by President Donald Trump. Vance accused Iran of not negotiating in good faith, which he said served as a catalyst for US strikes. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that by bombing nuclear program sites in Iran, the US had “blown up diplomacy”
US Vice President JD Vance said his country was only at war with Iran’s nuclear program, adding that the program had been pushed back following US airstrikes ordered by President Donald Trump.
“We’re not at war with Iran. We’re at war with Iran’s nuclear program,” Vance said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker.”
“I think that we have really pushed their program back by a very long time,” Vance said. “I think that it’s going to be many, many years before the Iranians are going to be able to develop a nuclear weapon.”
The US had been in diplomatic talks with Iran about Tehran’s nuclear program, but Vance accused Iran of not negotiating in good faith, which he said served as a catalyst for US strikes.
“We don’t want a regime change,” Vance added. “We do not want to protract this… We want to end the nuclear program, and then we want to talk to the Iranians about a long-term settlement here.
“I actually think it provides an opportunity to reset this relationship, reset these negotiations and get us in a place where Iran can decide not to be a threat to its neighbors, not to a threat to the United States and if they’re willing to do that, the United States is all ears,” Vance said.
Vance explained that Trump made the final decision to strike Iran right before the strikes took place and that Washington has received some “indirect” messages from Tehran since the strikes. He did not elaborate on the content of the messages.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that by bombing nuclear program sites in Iran, the US had “blown up diplomacy.” (See entry below)
Live updates: US strikes Iranian nuclear sites as Iran-Israel conflict continues
The US military’s operation against Iranian nuclear facilities this weekend “had the desired effect,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Sunday. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said it was “way too early’ to comment on whether Iran still retains some nuclear capabilities. Iran’’ Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the “warmongering” White House and said it will be “fully responsible” for the consequences of the strikes. Vice President JD Vance sought to calm Americans who fear the US could be drifting toward another extended conflict in the Middle East.
The US military’s operation against Iranian nuclear facilities this weekend “had the desired effect,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Sunday, but an assessment of the attack’s full impact is still underway.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said it’s “way too early” to comment on whether Iran still retains some nuclear capabilities, though Hegseth and US President Donald Trump had said they believed Tehran’s nuclear ambitions were “obliterated.”
Asked by CNN about the current state of Iran’s program, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said, “I can’t say it’s been eliminated. I can say it’s been hit very hard. Both by the Israeli attacks and absolutely by the American attack overnight.”
Here is more on the latest developments:
• How the strikes unfolded: “Operation Midnight Hammer” involved more than 125 aircraft, according to US officials. B-2 bombers dropped more than a dozen massive “bunker buster” bombs on Iran’s Fordow and Natanz facilities, while Tomahawk missiles struck Isfahan. Caine provided the most thorough public timeline released since the attack, and satellite imagery has provided a glimpse at the impact point.
• What Iran has said: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the “warmongering” White House and said it will be “fully responsible” for the consequences of the strikes. He also expressed deep skepticism about diplomacy moving forward. The world is still awaiting an official response from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Meanwhile, some Iranian leaders have downplayed the impact of the strikes to Tehran’s nuclear program.
• Vance aims to soothe concerns: Vice President JD Vance sought to calm Americans — and some fellow Republicans — who fear the US could be drifting toward another extended conflict in the Middle East. “I think the president has been very clear that we are not interested in protracted conflicts in the Middle East,” Vance told ABC News’ “This Week.” He added that the US is “not at war with Iran. We’re at war with Iran’s nuclear program.”
• How Trump made the decision: It came after days of public deliberation, as Trump alternated between issuing militaristic threats against Iran on social media and holding private concerns that a military strike could drag the US into prolonged war. By Thursday, allies who spoke to him said it was clear that the decision was already made. Read a deep dive here.
How badly have US strikes damaged Iran’s nuclear facilities? Here’s what to know
CNN analysis of satellite imagery shows that the US strikes left at least six large craters at the Fordow site. The images, captured by Maxar, showed six separate impact craters in two nearby locations at Fordow. The US used six B-2 bombers to drop 12 of those “bunker-busting” bombs on the site, a US official told CNN. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said there had been a “direct kinetic impact” on Fordow, but that it was too soon to judge whether it had caused internal damage to the underground site.“Total destruction of the underground hall is quite possible,” says David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) Iran’s foreign minister said the damage from the strikes was “quite superficial,’ a lawmaker said. But satellite imagery suggests “a considerable amount of damage could have been done to the enrichment hall and adjacent halls that provide support to enrichment.”
Warplanes. Submarines. Cruise missiles. Bombs that weigh 30,000 pounds.
After initially favoring diplomacy, US President Donald Trump resorted to an extraordinary use of force against Iran on Saturday night, striking three of the regime’s key nuclear sites.
Trump claimed Iran’s nuclear facilities had been “obliterated,” but some Iranian officials downplayed the impact of the strikes – just as they did when Israel first struck Iran’s facilities on June 13.
With satellite imagery of the overnight strikes beginning to emerge, here’s what we know about the damage the US inflicted on Iran’s nuclear program.
Fordow
Fordow is Iran’s most important nuclear enrichment facility, buried deep inside a mountain to guard it from attacks.
The main halls are believed to be some 80 to 90 meters (262 to 295 feet) below ground. Analysts have long said that the US is the only military in the world with the kind of bomb required to burrow that deeply – the enormous, 30,000-pound GBU-57.
The US used six B-2 bombers to drop 12 of those “bunker-busting” bombs on the site, a US official told CNN.
A CNN analysis of satellite imagery showed that the US strikes left at least six large craters at the Fordow site, pointing to the use of bunker-busting bombs.
The images, captured by Maxar, showed six separate impact craters in two nearby locations at Fordow. The craters are visible along a ridge running over the underground complex.
Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, told CNN that there had been a “direct kinetic impact” on Fordow, but that it was too soon to judge whether it had caused internal damage to the underground site.
“Of course, one cannot exclude (the possibility) that there is significant damage there,” he said.
This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows the Fordo enrichment facility in Iran before U.S. strikes, Friday, June 20, 2025. Maxar Technologies/AP Maxar Technologies This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows the Fordow enrichment facility in Iran before and after US strikes. Editors’ note: Satellite photo above was rotated by Maxar Technologies, the source of the image, to show the original orientation of the moment the image was taken. Maxar Technologies
David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), told CNN that the satellite imagery suggested “a considerable amount of damage could have been done to the enrichment hall and adjacent halls that provide support to enrichment.”
“Total destruction of the underground hall is quite possible,” Albright said, while stressing that a full assessment of the damage will take time.
N.R. Jenzen-Jones, a munitions specialist and director of the research company Armament Research Services (ARES), concurred that there are at least six entry points in Fordow following the US strikes.
“The larger, central entry holes in the two groupings have irregular shapes and suggest multiple munitions struck the same precise location,” Jenzen-Jones told CNN.
“This is consistent with the theory of an attack on such a deeply buried target as the Fordow site, which would require multiple precisely delivered, and carefully calibrated, penetrating munitions to essentially ‘smash’ and blast their way through to the deeper, more protected areas of the site,” he added.
Satellite imagery also showed significant changes to the color of the mountainside where the facility is housed, indicating a vast area was covered with a layer of grey ash in the aftermath of the strikes.
A CNN analysis of imagery collected before the US strikes suggested Iran had taken steps to reinforce the entrances to the tunnels believed to lead into the underground facility, likely in anticipation of a coming strike. That imagery showed dirt piled up in front of at least two of the six entrances.
Although Iran’s foreign minister said the US had crossed a “very big red line,” other Iranian leaders downplayed the strikes’ impact. Manan Raeisi, a lawmaker representing the city of Qom, near Fordow, said the damage from the attack was “quite superficial.”
But Albright, of the ISIS, told CNN that initial reports from Iran “should be dismissed.” He said that, during previous rounds of strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, Tehran has soft-pedaled their impact, only for satellite imagery to tell a very different story.
Natanz
Natanz is the site of Iran’s largest nuclear enrichment center and was targeted in Israel’s initial attack on Iran on June 13. The site has six above-ground buildings and three underground structures, which house centrifuges – a key technology in nuclear enrichment, turning uranium into nuclear fuel.
The above-ground facilities were damaged in Israel’s initial attack. The IAEA said the strikes damaged electrical infrastructure at the plant.
Although it is not clear if Israel’s strikes caused direct damage to the underground facilities, the IAEA said the loss of power to the underground cascade hall “may have damaged the centrifuges there.”
A satellite image shows two craters above underground halls at the Natanz Nuclear Facility after the site was bombed by the United States on June 22. Satellite image ©2025 Maxar Technologies/Graphic: Thomas Bordeaux/CNN
The US also targeted Natanz in its Saturday night operation. A US official said a B-2 bomber had dropped two bunker-busting bombs on the site. US Navy submarines also fired 30 TLAM cruise missiles at Natanz and Isfahan, the third Iranian site targeted by the US.
A CNN analysis of satellite imagery showed two new craters had emerged at the site, likely caused by the bunker-busting bombs. The craters – one with a diameter of around 5.5 meters, the other around 3.2 meters, according to the Maxar images – sit directly above parts of the complex located underground.
The extent of the underground damage at the site is unclear at this time.
Isfahan
Isfahan, in central Iran, is home to the country’s largest nuclear research complex.
The facility was built with support from China and opened in 1984, according to the nonprofit Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI). Some 3,000 scientists are employed at Isfahan, NTI says, and the site is “suspected of being the center” of Iran’s nuclear program.
Following the US strikes, at least 18 destroyed or partially destroyed structures could be seen in satellite imagery, a CNN analysis found. The site was visibly blackened by the degree of rubble thrown up by the strikes.
This satellite image shows the Isfahan nuclear technology center on June 16, 2025. Maxar Technologies This satellite image shows the Isfahan nuclear technology center on June 22, 2025. Maxar Technologies These satellite images show the Isfahan nuclear technology center before and after US strikes. Maxar Technologies
Albright said initial reports suggested that the US also struck tunnel complexes near the Isfahan site, “where they typically store enriched uranium.”
If confirmed, Albright said this would show that the US was trying to take out Iran’s stocks of uranium that had been enriched to 20% and 60%. Weapons-grade uranium is enriched to 90%.
CNN could not independently verify reports that tunnel complexes near the Isfahan site were targeted.
At a Pentagon news conference Sunday, Gen. Dan Caine, US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said a US submarine had “launched more than a dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles against key surface infrastructure targets” at the Isfahan site.
CNN’s Isaac Ye, Avery Schmitz, Haley Britzky and Kristen Holmes contributed reporting.
Rubio says U.S. is ready to meet with Iran after strikes, warns closing Strait of Hormuz would be “suicidal”
Rubio says U.S. is ready to meet with Iran after strikes, calls closing Strait of Hormuz “suicidal” Rubio urged Iran to pursue diplomacy after the U.s. carried out what the Pentagon called the largest B-2 operation in history. Rubio: “If they choose the path of diplomacy, we’re ready. We can do a deal that’s good for them, the Iranian people, and good for the world” Rubio declined to say whether the U.,S. would take military action if Iran closes the strait, or consider attacks on oil facilities by Iran’s proxy militias as direct acts by the regime: “I’m not going to take options away from the president, that’s not something we’re talking about right now in terms of being immediate””We’re prepared, right now, if they call right now and say, ‘We want to meet, let’s talk about this,’ we’re prepared to do that,” Rubio said. “We have very good plans to clear that if we had to do it”
Washington — The U.S. is ready to meet with Iran following the U.S. bombing of three Iranian nuclear sites, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday, while warning Iran that closing the crucial Strait of Hormuz would be a “suicidal” move for the regime.
Rubio, appearing on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” urged Iran to pursue diplomacy after the U.S. carried out what the Pentagon called the largest B-2 operation in U.S. history in an effort to cripple Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon. Rubio said the U.S. has no current plans for further attacks on Iran unless “they mess around.”
Rubio said the U.S. mission “was not an attack on Iran, it was not an attack on the Iranian people. This wasn’t a regime change move. This was designed to degrade and/or destroy three nuclear sites related to their nuclear weaponization ambitions, and that was delivered on yesterday.”
“What happens next will now depend on what Iran chooses to do next,” Rubio said. “If they choose the path of diplomacy, we’re ready. We can do a deal that’s good for them, the Iranian people, and good for the world. If they choose another route, then there will be consequences for that.”
President Trump continues to prefer the path of diplomacy, Rubio said, noting that the U.S. pushed Iran to make a deal to give up its nuclear weapons ambitions before the strikes.
“We’re prepared, right now, if they call right now and say, ‘We want to meet, let’s talk about this,’ we’re prepared to do that,” Rubio said.
The question of how Iran will respond has raised fears that the regime could seek to block ships from traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical choke point between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman that is used to transport about 20% of oil used around the world.
Rubio declined to say whether the U.S. would take military action if Iran closes the strait, or whether the U.S. would consider attacks on oil facilities by Iran’s proxy militias as direct acts by the regime: “I’m not going to take options away from the president, that’s not something we’re talking about right now in terms of being immediate.”
Rubio said closing the strait would affect the U.S., but it would have “a lot more impact on the rest of the world,” particularly on China.
“That would be a suicidal move on [Iran’s] part, because I think the whole world would come against them if they did that,” Rubio said.
Retired Gen. Frank McKenzie, the former head of U.S. Central Command and a CBS News contributor, said the U.S. would be able to clear the strait if Iran lined it with underwater mines.
“The Iranians do have the capability to mine the Strait of Hormuz. We have very good plans to clear that if we had to do it. We work on those plans all the time,” McKenzie told Brennan later in the show. “It would be a blow to world commerce, for a period of time, but at the end, the strait would be cleared, and I’m pretty confident the Iranian navy would all be sunk at the end of that operation.”
The U.S. operation on Saturday, which the Trump administration named “Operation Midnight Hammer,” bombed three nuclear sites in Iran, causing what the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said was “extremely severe damage and destruction.” The Pentagon acknowledged that capturing a complete assessment of the operation’s effectiveness will take time.
Brennan pressed Rubio on what specific intelligence pushed the president to make the decision to strike Iran. In March, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testified before Congress that Iran wasn’t building a nuclear weapon, testimony Mr. Trump declared “wrong.” Rubio said Iran, ahead of the strikes, had “everything they need to build nuclear weapons,” and pointed to assessments by the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA.
“Here’s what the whole world knows. Forget about intelligence,” Rubio told Brennan. “What the IAEA knows, they are enriching uranium well beyond anything you need for a civil nuclear program. So why would you enrich uranium at 60% if you don’t intend to use it to one day take it to 90 and build a weapon? Why are you developing ICBMs?”
Brennan asked Rubio whether the U.S. will defend other nations in the Middle East if Iran launches attacks on their soil in response. Rubio said that’s why U.S. bases — and about 40,000 U.S. troops — are positioned across the Middle East.
“Well, that’s exactly why they’re there,” he said, adding, “All those bases are there because they’re afraid that Iran will attack them.”
Rubio insisted that the U.S. will defend Americans, including U.S. soldiers on military bases, from Iran and its proxies.
“They’ll attack us, is what they’re threatening to do,” he said. “So we’ll defend our people, obviously. We’ll defend our people. Well, they’ll attack our bases. And those are our bases, and we’re going to defend our personnel, and we’re prepared to do that.”
Rubio said he didn’t want to forecast what the U.S. might do if Iran retaliates.
“There are no planned military operations right now against Iran unless they mess around and they attack Americans or American interests, then they’re going to have a problem,” he said. “Then they’re going to have a problem, and I’m not going to broadcast what those problems are.”
Live updates: U.S. claims strikes caused ‘severe damage’ and warns Iran against retaliation
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D—Conn., said he did not. “Under the Constitution and the War Powers Act, he’s obligated to inform Congress and seek approval for using American military force,” Blumenthal said.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D—Conn., a member of the Armed Services committee, said he did not.
“Under the Constitution and the War Powers Act, he’s obligated to inform Congress and seek approval for using American military force,” Blumenthal told NBC News in an interview. “He has done neither.”
This week, Blumenthal said he’ll press the Trump administration to disclose how they plan to protect American troops in the region and bring about peace.
“One of my main concerns is possible retaliation by Iran against the 40,000 troops we have in the Middle East, but also around the world through use of drones and terrorist attacks against bases and embassies.”
“There’s now an obligation to provide the American people — not just Congress — with all the facts, and I’m going to be demanding answers,” Blumenthal added.