In wake of U.S. strikes, Iran faces a pivotal selection: sprint to construct a weapon or negotiate

[ad_1] Hiding key Iranian nuclear amenities deep underneath a mountain made them that a lot tougher for U.S. and Israeli weapons to attain.

It is going to additionally make it tougher to evaluate simply how profitable the historic U.S. strikes towards them in a single day Saturday had been and tougher to foretell Iran's subsequent steps.

In his assertion moments after the U.S. assault by B-2 bombers and their deep-penetrating nearly 14 tonne bombs, U.S. President Donald Trump was unequivocal in his declare:

"Iran's key nuclear enrichment amenities have been fully and completely obliterated," he mentioned.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sounded equally conclusive, claiming his promise to destroy Iran's nuclear amenities had been "fulfilled."

<img loading="lazy" alt="U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit bomber, assigned to the 509th Bomb Wing out of Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, performs a fly-over during the Speed of Sound Airshow, at Rosecrans Air National Guard Base in St. Joseph, Missouri, U.S. September 14, 2024. " srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568014.1750611057!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear.JPG?im=Resize%3D300 300w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568014.1750611057!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear.JPG?im=Resize%3D460 460w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568014.1750611057!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear.JPG?im=Resize%3D620 620w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568014.1750611057!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear.JPG?im=Resize%3D780 780w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568014.1750611057!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear.JPG?im=Resize%3D1180 1180w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 300px,(max-width: 460px) 460px,(max-width: 620px) 620px,(max-width: 780px) 780px,(max-width: 1180px) 1180px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568014.1750611057!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear.JPG?im=" style="aspect-ratio:1.5031847133757963" data-cy="image-img"/> U.S. Air Power B-2 Spirit bomber on the kind that dropped the bunker-busting bomb on the Fordow nuclear facility in Iran. U.S. Air Power Gen. Dan Caine referred to as it 'the biggest B-2 operational strike in U.S. historical past.' (Grasp Sgt. Patrick Evenson/U.S. Air Nationwide Guard/Reuters) But, inside hours, Iranian officers had been giving Reuters information company a conflicting account, claiming that a lot of the extremely enriched uranium at Fordow had been moved elsewhere earlier than the assault.

Fordow is Iran's important web site for enriching uranium, with a few of the stockpile there having been enriched to about 60 per cent within the evaluation of the Worldwide Atomic Vitality Company, charged with monitoring Iran's nuclear amenities. Ninety % enrichment is taken into account weapons succesful.

"The diploma of injury contained in the uranium enrichment halls cannot be decided with certainty," IAEA director Normal Grossi mentioned Sunday of the strike on Fordow.

The sprawling Isfahan web site, which had already been struck a number of occasions since Israel's strikes started June 13, additionally suffered "in depth further harm" within the U.S. operation, the company mentioned.

The IAEA had reported on Saturday that the amenities at Isfahan bombed by Israel both contained no nuclear materials or small portions of pure or low-enriched uranium, a sign that the extremely enriched uranium is likely to be saved elsewhere.

WATCH | U.S. defence secretary feedback on strikes: U.S. strike on Iran not about ‘regime change,’ U.S. defence secretary says

Within the aftermath of a shock U.S. assault on three Iranian nuclear websites, U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth mentioned Sunday that the USA 'doesn't search conflict' with Iran. 'This mission was not and has not been about regime change,' Hegseth mentioned. 'Extraordinarily extreme harm and destruction' In his morning-after briefing, Normal Dan Caine, the top of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Employees, mentioned the three focused websites had sustained "extraordinarily extreme harm and destruction," however he acknowledged a ultimate harm evaluation would take a while.

He mentioned the operation was "the biggest B-2 operational strike in U.S. historical past."

However Daria Dolzikova, with the Royal United Companies Institute, a London-based navy assume tank, mentioned it may not be sufficient to destroy Iran's nuclear program.

"The elemental actuality stays that navy motion alone can solely roll again this system by levels, not get rid of it totally," she mentioned.

On condition that, Dolzikova says, there are two key questions for either side to contemplate: how a lot harm is sufficient for the U.S. and Israel to really feel they've curtailed Iran's nuclear program sufficiently; and equally necessary, what have the strikes accomplished to Iran's resolve to hurry up enrichment and doubtlessly create a nuclear weapon?

"One factor that I am searching for ... is Iran's future inside the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) and whether or not these strikes really persuade it to doubtlessly pull out of that treaty," Dolzikova advised CBC Information in an interview.

<img loading="lazy" alt="Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Air Force General Dan Caine holds a briefing with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (not pictured) at the Pentagon, after the U.S. struck Iranian nuclear facilities, during the Israel-Iran conflict, in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., June 22, 2025 in this still image taken from video. " srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568008.1750611037!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear-pentagon-briefing.JPG?im=Resize%3D300 300w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568008.1750611037!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear-pentagon-briefing.JPG?im=Resize%3D460 460w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568008.1750611037!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear-pentagon-briefing.JPG?im=Resize%3D620 620w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568008.1750611037!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear-pentagon-briefing.JPG?im=Resize%3D780 780w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568008.1750611037!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear-pentagon-briefing.JPG?im=Resize%3D1180 1180w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 300px,(max-width: 460px) 460px,(max-width: 620px) 620px,(max-width: 780px) 780px,(max-width: 1180px) 1180px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568008.1750611037!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear-pentagon-briefing.JPG?im=" style="aspect-ratio:1.7851739788199696" data-cy="image-img"/> U.S. Air Power Normal Dan Caine, pictured at a briefing on the Pentagon after the U.S. struck Iranian nuclear amenities, acknowledged will probably be a while earlier than the U.S. can assess the extent of injury to the three nuclear websites it struck in a single day. (U.S. Division of Defence/Reuters TV) Exiting the NPT would banish IAEA inspectors from Iran and successfully ship its nuclear program into the shadows.

The NPT, which went into impact 55 years in the past, is geared toward stopping the unfold of nuclear weapons whereas on the identical time permitting international locations to construct nuclear packages for peaceable functions.

Iran is a signatory and as a part of the monitoring provisions, its nuclear amenities have been open to the IAEA for inspection. A deal signed in 2015 generally known as the Joint Complete Plan of Motion had additionally aimed to limit Iran's nuclear capabilities in change for an easing of financial sanctions however fell aside after Trump withdrew the U.S. from it in his first time period.

In its newest report on Iran earlier this month, the IAEA mentioned it had no proof that the regime was attempting to construct a nuclear weapon however nonetheless declared the nation non-compliant for being evasive and failing to account for the whereabouts of all of its provides of enriched uranium.

It additionally mentioned its inspectors had restricted entry to the Fordow facility and that Iran had beforehand eliminated cameras that had been a part of the monitoring course of.

When requested at a information convention Sunday morning within the aftermath of the U.S. assaults if Iran was now going to drag out of the NPT, Iranian International Minister Abbas Araqhchi refused to say.

<img loading="lazy" alt="Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqhchi talks during a press conference in Istanbul, Turkey, June 22, 2025. " srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568006.1750607834!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear-istanbul-araqchi.JPG?im=Resize%3D300 300w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568006.1750607834!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear-istanbul-araqchi.JPG?im=Resize%3D460 460w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568006.1750607834!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear-istanbul-araqchi.JPG?im=Resize%3D620 620w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568006.1750607834!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear-istanbul-araqchi.JPG?im=Resize%3D780 780w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568006.1750607834!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear-istanbul-araqchi.JPG?im=Resize%3D1180 1180w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 300px,(max-width: 460px) 460px,(max-width: 620px) 620px,(max-width: 780px) 780px,(max-width: 1180px) 1180px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568006.1750607834!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear-istanbul-araqchi.JPG?im=" style="aspect-ratio:1.3318284424379232" data-cy="image-img"/> Iranian International Minister Abbas Araqhchi talks throughout a press convention in Istanbul, Turkey, June 22, 2025. (Umit Bektas/Reuters) Dash for a nuclear weapon? Robert E. Kelly, an American educational primarily based in Busan, South Korea, who has studied North Korea's nuclear program, says he fears the U.S. strikes on the Iranian amenities in Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz may spur Iran to construct a bomb sooner.

"That is what I am actually anxious about, that that is going to deeply incentivize the nuclear hawks in Iran to dash for a nuclear weapon," Kelly advised CBC Information. "[They are going to say], 'We should always have sprinted for a bomb 10 years in the past. We should always've been like North Korea.'"

North Korea is now believed to have round 50 warheads and has repeatedly used its nuclear capabilities to threaten its neighbours, particularly South Korea and Japan.

"The North Korea technique on nuclearization has been validated by the strike," Kelly mentioned. "I imply the North Koreans had been telling us for 30 years that is precisely why we constructed nuclear weapons, so you may't do these type of massive air assaults towards us."

WATCH | Trump feedback on U.S. strikes towards 3 nuclear websites in Iran: FULL SPEECH: U.S. strikes 'fully and totally obliterated' Iranian nuclear websites, Trump says

U.S. President Donald Trump mentioned the U.S. 'fully and totally obliterated' Iranian nuclear websites. The motion got here as Israel and Iran have been engaged in additional than every week of aerial fight. Notably, the primary cease for Iran's international minister Sunday was Moscow for a gathering with Russian officers and President Vladimir Putin. Russia, which has the world's largest stockpile of nuclear warheads, is a significant backer of Iran's nuclear program.

In an ominous sounding social media publish, the nation's former president Dmitri Medvedev mentioned the U.S. assaults can have no lasting affect on Iran's nuclear ambitions if its leaders select to pursue a weapon.

"Plenty of international locations are able to immediately provide Iran with their very own nuclear warheads," he wrote, a transfer that may be a direct violation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which Russia is a signatory to.

Israel shouldn't be a signatory and does posses its personal nuclear weapons though it has by no means acknowledged that publicly.

WATCH | Israel praises U.S. strikes as Iran condemns them: U.S. assaults draw reward from Israel, threats from Iran

Israeli officers praised the U.S. assaults towards nuclear websites in Iran as a transfer that would result in ‘prosperity and peace’ within the Center East, whereas Iranian officers mentioned it was ready to retaliate. Speedy choices Warning: This part consists of photographs of individuals wounded in missile strikes.

Each Iran and Israel must make rapid choices on whether or not to proceed the cycle of strikes and retaliations which have performed out since Israel attacked Iran 9 days in the past.

Inside hours of the U.S. strikes, Iran launched two massive salvos of ballistic missiles at targets in Israel, with a number of impacts within the Tel Aviv space that injured dozens.

There have been no rapid indications, nevertheless, that any U.S. pursuits within the area had been being focused.

"Our forces stay on excessive alert and are totally postured to answer any Iranian retaliation or proxy assaults, which might be an extremely poor selection," Caine mentioned in his Sunday morning briefing. "We are going to defend ourselves."

Iran's Well being Ministry has mentioned greater than 400 folks have been killed to this point within the change of missile strikes between Israel and Iran whereas Israeli authorities say a minimum of 24 have been killed.

<img loading="lazy" alt=" A wounded man reacts following the Israeli strikes on Iran, in Tehran, Iran, June 15, 2025. Hamid " srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568080.1750608178!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear.JPG?im=Resize%3D300 300w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568080.1750608178!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear.JPG?im=Resize%3D460 460w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568080.1750608178!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear.JPG?im=Resize%3D620 620w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568080.1750608178!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear.JPG?im=Resize%3D780 780w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568080.1750608178!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear.JPG?im=Resize%3D1180 1180w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 300px,(max-width: 460px) 460px,(max-width: 620px) 620px,(max-width: 780px) 780px,(max-width: 1180px) 1180px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568080.1750608178!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear.JPG?im=" style="aspect-ratio:1.4993646759847523" data-cy="image-img"/> Folks in Tehran assist a person wounded within the Israeli strikes on the capital on June 15, 2025. (Hamid Amlashi/West Asia Information Company/Reuters) Analysts say the weakened Islamic regime in Tehran faces tough selections in calibrating its responses in order to not invite additional American assaults.

That would vary from Iran doing nothing to turning its massive short-range missile arsenal towards U.S. navy bases or belongings within the Persian Gulf.

WATCH | What Iran's retaliation may appear like: How Iran may retaliate towards U.S. strikes

After U.S. strikes towards Iran’s nuclear websites, CBC’s David Widespread breaks down the methods Iran may retaliate regardless of not having the identical standard navy energy because the U.S. Its management may additionally determine to disrupt transport within the Strait of Hormuz to cripple the worldwide financial system or hit out on the vitality infrastructure of U.S. allies within the area, together with Saudi Arabia or the UAE.

In a sequence of social media posts, Andreas Krieg of the Faculty of Safety Research at King's School London, mentioned Iran can not let the U.S. strikes go with out a response at it might sign weak spot, which might be unacceptable domestically.

<img loading="lazy" alt="Rescue personnel evacuate a wounded woman at an impact site following missile attack from Iran on Israel, in Ramat Gan, Israel June 13, 2025" srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568082.1750608291!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear-tel-aviv-impact.JPG?im=Resize%3D300 300w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568082.1750608291!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear-tel-aviv-impact.JPG?im=Resize%3D460 460w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568082.1750608291!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear-tel-aviv-impact.JPG?im=Resize%3D620 620w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568082.1750608291!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear-tel-aviv-impact.JPG?im=Resize%3D780 780w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568082.1750608291!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear-tel-aviv-impact.JPG?im=Resize%3D1180 1180w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 300px,(max-width: 460px) 460px,(max-width: 620px) 620px,(max-width: 780px) 780px,(max-width: 1180px) 1180px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568082.1750608291!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear-tel-aviv-impact.JPG?im=" style="aspect-ratio:1.4993646759847523" data-cy="image-img"/> Rescue personnel evacuate a wounded girl at an affect web site following a missile strike from Iran on Israel in Ramat Gan on June 13. (Itai Ron/Reuters) He says these choices embrace missile and drone assaults on U.S. forces in Iraq however accomplished in such a method as to restrict U.S. casualties and hold the potential escalation minimal. Iran's proxy militias in Lebanon and Yemen, Hezbollah and the Houthis, is also used to harass U.S. positions. Cyber assaults can be an alternative choice, Krieg mentioned.

Conflict of attrition a danger for Israel In a briefing Sunday morning, Israeli navy officers indicated that so far as they're involved the U.S. strikes on the Iranian nuclear amenities are removed from the top of the conflict.

"We now have extra aims, and we're performing on a regular basis to attain them," Brig.-Gen Effie Defrin mentioned in a press convention. "We are going to proceed to behave to attain these aims."

However some Israeli analysts say with out a clear imaginative and prescient for victory, Netanyahu could possibly be committing Israel to a different drawn out battle that can come at an unacceptable price to the nation.

<img loading="lazy" alt="Members of Israeli forces work at an impact site following a missile attack from Iran on Israel, amid the Iran-Israel conflict, in Tel Aviv, Israel, June 22, 2025." srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568007.1750608007!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear-israel-missiles.JPG?im=Resize%3D300 300w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568007.1750608007!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear-israel-missiles.JPG?im=Resize%3D460 460w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568007.1750608007!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear-israel-missiles.JPG?im=Resize%3D620 620w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568007.1750608007!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear-israel-missiles.JPG?im=Resize%3D780 780w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568007.1750608007!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear-israel-missiles.JPG?im=Resize%3D1180 1180w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 300px,(max-width: 460px) 460px,(max-width: 620px) 620px,(max-width: 780px) 780px,(max-width: 1180px) 1180px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/1.7568007.1750608007!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/iran-nuclear-israel-missiles.JPG?im=" style="aspect-ratio:1.4993646759847523" data-cy="image-img"/> Members of Israeli forces work at an affect web site following a missile assault from Iran on Israel, amid the Iran-Israel battle, in Tel Aviv, Israel, June 22, 2025. (Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters ) Israel has been at conflict with Hamas in Gaza for greater than a 12 months and eight months, with Israeli assaults decimating the territory and killing near 56,000 folks, based on Gaza well being officers, for ever and ever.

"Netanyahu's downside is that if Trump doesn't broaden the operation, and Iran does not comply with adjust to the administration's dictates, Israel may slide right into a conflict of attrition with Iran with the U.S. standing by and refusing Netanyahu's ambitions to increase the marketing campaign," mentioned Danny Citrinowicz, an Iran skilled at Israel's Institute for Nationwide Safety Research.

"Trump is hoping this assault will push the Iranians again to negotiations and settle for U.S. calls for."

WATCH | B.C. girl fears for dad in Iran: Iranian Canadian fears for her father in Iran: ‘I’m helpless’

The Nationwide’s Ian Hanomansing speaks to Iranian Canadian Bahar Motamedian, whose father is in Iran with no clear solution to go away and restricted communication. [ad_2] Source link

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