Israel has conducted a fresh strike on Iran’s highly fortified underground nuclear site at Fordo, just one day after the United States launched a series of devastating airstrikes targeting Iranian nuclear facilities, including sites in Isfahan, Natanz, and Fordo itself. The latest Israeli attack, confirmed by Iran’s state-affiliated Tasnim News Agency, marks the eleventh day of full-scale conflict between Iran and its long-time adversary, Israel, now dramatically complicated by direct U.S. military involvement.
These developments risk dragging the region—and perhaps the world—into a broader war, as diplomatic calls for de-escalation are being drowned out by the sound of bunker-buster bombs and retaliatory missile fire.
At approximately 2:45 AM local time on Monday, multiple explosions rocked the area surrounding Iran’s Fordo nuclear enrichment facility, located near the holy city of Qom. Witnesses reported tremors and secondary blasts, and emergency sirens echoed through the region. The spokesperson for Qom’s Crisis Management Authority confirmed that the facility had come under renewed attack from Israeli forces, stating: “The aggressor attacked the Fordo nuclear site again.”
This latest strike is part of a relentless barrage that began on June 13, when Israel launched a surprise air campaign targeting multiple Iranian military and nuclear sites. According to Tehran, the strikes have already killed over 400 people, including nuclear scientists and top commanders of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Iran’s Health Ministry says the casualties include civilian residents of bombed neighborhoods in northern Tehran and Isfahan.
The U.S. entry into the conflict, however, has dramatically upped the ante. Over the weekend, seven American B-2 stealth bombers flew an 18-hour mission to deliver 14 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs—some of the most powerful bunker-busting weapons in the world—on Iranian targets. These strikes, according to U.S. officials, were specifically calibrated to disable Iran’s ability to enrich uranium and construct a nuclear weapon.
“We obliterated their nuclear infrastructure,” said U.S. President Donald Trump, who returned to office earlier this year in a dramatic political comeback. “Monumental damage was done to all nuclear sites in Iran. Obliteration is an accurate term!”
But the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, tempered Trump’s claim, stating it had found “no signs of radioactive leakage or contamination” at the sites following preliminary assessments. Still, satellite images analyzed by independent military think tanks appear to show large-scale destruction at Fordo and Natanz, including collapsed underground tunnels and flattened support facilities.
Iran has vowed to respond with “unpredictable consequences.” Armed Forces spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari declared on state television: “This hostile act by the United States and its Zionist ally has widened the scope of legitimate targets for the Islamic Republic of Iran. The war will now extend wherever American forces are stationed.”
Iranian missiles have already begun striking Israeli territory. On Monday morning, air raid sirens blared across Israel for over 30 minutes as projectiles rained down from Iranian launch sites. Some were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome defense system, but others found their mark, damaging homes and causing casualties in Tel Aviv and Haifa.
The Israeli military responded in kind, stating it had destroyed “six Iranian regime airports” and several missile storage facilities in western Iran. Loud explosions were heard throughout northern Tehran, and the Iranian Red Crescent reported that one of its buildings had been struck.
Tehran’s Governor Mohammad Sadegh Motamedian said that “more than 200 locations” have been attacked since Israel’s campaign began. Iranian television aired footage of destroyed buildings, burning runways, and frantic rescue operations. The death toll on both sides continues to climb.
China, a key trading partner of Iran and a permanent member of the UN Security Council, issued a grave warning on Monday. “The spillover of war must be prevented,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian. “The international community must act to ensure the free and secure navigation of Gulf maritime routes, upon which global energy supplies depend.”
Indeed, oil prices surged by more than four percent in early trading, as fears mounted over the disruption of critical shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz. Nearly 20 percent of the world’s oil passes through this narrow waterway, which now lies within range of Iranian naval and missile systems.
Meanwhile, European leaders have struggled to contain the diplomatic fallout. Britain, France, and Germany issued a joint statement urging Iran not to escalate further. “All parties must act with restraint. The region cannot afford another prolonged conflict,” the statement read.
At the United Nations, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres convened an emergency session of the Security Council, warning that the world was “on the precipice of a catastrophic regional war.”
“We are descending into a rathole of retaliation after retaliation,” Guterres said. “This must stop.”
One of the most disquieting aspects of the current crisis is how rapidly it unraveled a fragile diplomatic process.
Iran had been engaged in back-channel nuclear negotiations with Western powers, including the United States, through intermediaries in Oman and Switzerland. Those talks, according to Iranian officials, were showing “modest but real progress.”
Now, they lie in tatters.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei accused the United States of “betraying diplomacy and the principle of dialogue.”
“We were in the midst of a diplomatic process with a country that is now at war with us. This is a dark stain on the record of international relations. Our children and future generations will not forget.”
Despite this, President Trump suggested on Sunday that Iran could still end the conflict — but only by surrendering its nuclear ambitions and potentially its leadership.
“If the current Iranian regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN,” he wrote on social media, “why wouldn’t there be regime change?”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has emerged as one of the most vocal advocates of continued pressure on Iran. In a press conference Monday, he thanked the United States for its support and said the coordinated strikes had brought Israel “closer to our national security goals.”
Netanyahu has not ruled out targeting Iran’s clerical leadership, a move that would further inflame the already volatile situation.
“We must remember that the regime in Tehran is not just a threat to Israel—it is a threat to global peace,” he said. “This war was not our choice. But now that it has come, we will finish it decisively.”
The U.S. Department of Defense reiterated that the American strikes were aimed solely at Iran’s nuclear program, not its military or civilian population. But with Iranian leaders calling for attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq, Syria, and the Gulf, and militias loyal to Tehran already mobilizing across the region, the distinction may be academic.
As bombs continue to fall, ordinary Iranians and Israelis are bearing the brunt.
In Tehran, hospitals are overwhelmed. “We have dozens of critical patients and limited supplies,” said a doctor at Imam Khomeini Hospital, speaking anonymously. “We’re running low on blood and oxygen.”
Iran’s Health Ministry reported more than 2,000 injuries since the strikes began. In Israel, meanwhile, 24 civilians have died, including two children killed in the northern city of Tiberias.
Aid organizations are struggling to operate amid the chaos. The International Red Cross has called for an immediate ceasefire to allow humanitarian corridors to be established.
As the eleventh day of war draws to a close, the region finds itself hurtling toward an abyss. Diplomats warn that further escalation could ignite a regional firestorm, drawing in Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Iraqi militias, and even Gulf Arab states.
“Make no mistake,” said former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates in a televised interview, “this is no longer just about Iran’s nuclear program. It’s a broader clash of ideologies, alliances, and national destinies.”
