Iran Threatens US Bases In Response To Strikes On Nuclear Sites
Iran on Sunday threatened US bases in the Middle East after massive air strikes that Washington said had destroyed Tehran’s nuclear program, though some officials cautioned that the extent of damage was unclear.
International concern focused on fears that the unprecedented US attacks would deepen conflict in the volatile region after Israel launched a bombing campaign against Iran earlier this month.
Ali Akbar Velayati, an advisor to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said bases used by US forces could be attacked in retaliation.
“Any country in the region or elsewhere that is used by American forces to strike Iran will be considered a legitimate target for our armed forces,” he said in a message carried by the official IRNA news agency.
“America has attacked the heart of the Islamic world and must await irreparable consequences.”
President Donald Trump urged Iran to end the conflict after he launched surprise “bunker buster” strikes on a key underground uranium enrichment site at Fordo, along with nuclear facilities in Isfahan and Natanz.
“We had a spectacular military success yesterday, taking the ‘bomb’ right out of their hands (and they would use it if they could!)” he said on social media.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a Pentagon press briefing that Iran’s nuclear program had been “devastated,” adding the operation “did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people.”
Standing beside Hegseth, top US general Dan Caine said “it would be way too early for me to comment on what may or may not still be there.”
“Initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction.”
