An Iranian official said Washington must compensate Iran for damaging its facilities. The U.S. and Israel said recent strikes had severely damaged Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.
Newsweek has reached out to the U.S. Department of State for comment.
Why It Matters
The U.S. strikes on Iran marked a major escalation in Washington’s longstanding tensions with Tehran. President Donald Trump claimed the strike caused the “total obliteration” of the Fordow nuclear facility, located deep underground inside a mountain and the latest hostilities disrupted U.S.-Iran nuclear talks.
What To Know
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh said Tehran will file a complaint with the United Nations over the damage to its nuclear facilities and asserted that the U.S. must provide compensation, in statements to Lebanese outlet Al-Mayadeen.
His comments came after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi acknowledged on Wednesday significant damage to its nuclear facilities following a 12-day conflict that began with Israeli strikes on key nuclear, missile, and military sites across Iran.
After the White House rejected a report downplaying the U.S. strikes’ impact, new intelligence claims Iran’s nuclear facilities have been destroyed, according to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
“If the Iranians chose to rebuild, they would have to rebuild all three facilities (Natanz, Fordow, Esfahan) entirely, which would likely take years to do,” Gabbard wrote on her X account. Gabbard had previously assessed Iran was not pursuing a nuclear weapons’ program.
Israel’s Atomic Energy Commission backed Trump’s assessment of the damage done to the Iranian nuclear site at Fordow.
A spokesperson for Iran’s Health Ministry, Hossein Kermanpour, said 627 people were killed and 4,870 were injured in the conflict, with the highest casualty figures recorded in Tehran.
“I make no judgments, I do not describe the painful scenes of the arrival of injured children, mothers, and civilians, and I leave it to the judgment of humanity’s conscience today!,” Kermanpour posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Dozens of Iranian generals are believed to have been killed by Israel. No conclusive numbers have been issued but Iran has confirmed the killing of several senior military commanders and nuclear scientists.
What People Are Saying
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh told Al-Mayadeen, translated from Arabic: “Iran is a civilization that cannot be eliminated, and the American president must know that…What was not achieved through aggression will not be achieved through diplomacy.”
President Donald Trump told reporters during the NATO summit at The Hague: “I think it was a tremendous victory for everybody, including Iran. They’ve got a country, and they’ve got oil and they’re very smart people, they can come back…but they’re not gona be building bombs for a long time.”
What Happens Next
The U.S. and Iran may return to negotiations but there are still concerns of renewed escalation between Iran and Israel.
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