US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has warned Tehran against the move
FILE PHOTO © Gary Hershorn / Getty Images
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Vice President J.D. Vance have warned Iran against closing the Strait of Hormuz, saying the move would be a big mistake.
Both men commented after Iran’s Press TV reported that the national parliament had approved a measure to close the strait, through which around 20% of global oil and gas is exported. It follows Washington’s strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz and Esfahan overnight.
In the same post and several follow-up messages, the US leader urged Tehran not to retaliate and to engage in talks, claiming it was now “time for peace.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has condemned the US airstrikes as a violation of all international treaties, stating that “Iran reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interests, and people.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry has condemned the attacks, calling for a diplomatic solution. “The irresponsible decision to subject the territory of a sovereign state to missile and bomb strikes, no matter what arguments are presented, is a gross violation of international law, the UN Charter, and UN Security Council resolutions, which has previously unequivocally classified such actions as unacceptable.”
Tehran has previously warned Washington and other third parties against joining the conflict, threatening to target any hostile assets and weapons shipments bound for Israel. A spokesperson for Yemen’s Houthis has also warned that if the US becomes involved, the group “will target its warships in the Red Sea.”
READ MORE: ISRAEL-IRAN CONFLICT AS IT UNFOLDED OVER THE PAST WEEK
Israel launched its Operation Rising Lion as a “preemptive” strike, supposedly aimed at preventing the Islamic Republic from acquiring a nuclear bomb. Tehran, which has consistently maintained that its nuclear program is peaceful, called the attack an act of war and has responded with missile and drone strikes of its own.
Israeli strikes have killed at least 430 Iranians and injured more than 3,500 civilians so far, according to Iran’s Health Ministry. Israeli officials have reported 25 deaths and over 2,500 injuries.
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22 June 2025
19:09 GMT
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Moscow on Sunday for urgent talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Araghchi earlier emphasized the importance of strategic partnership between Iran and Russia. “We always consult with each other and coordinate our positions,” he told reporters in Istanbul, according to media reports.
ALERT:Abbas Araghchi, Iran's Foreign Minister, has landed in Moscow for high-level talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior officials, focusing on the latest regional and international developments amid escalating US and Israeli military tensions with Iran,… pic.twitter.com/Gxdpqddciq
— The Khorasan Diary (@khorasandiary) June 22, 2025
- 18:16 GMT
The Washington Post’s express poll has shown that only 25% of Americans support the strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Of those surveyed, 45% oppose President Trump’s decision, with 30% saying they are unsure.
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- 18:05 GMT
The Israeli military has published footage of its strikes earlier today on an Iranian ballistic missile facility in the Yazd area. According to IDF, Iran stored long-range Khorramshahr missiles there.
לראשונה ובמרחק 2,200 ק״מ: מטוסי קרב של חיל-האוויר תקפו לפני זמן קצר במרחב יזד, אתרי אחסון של טילי קרקע-קרקע ארוכי טווח מסוג ׳ח׳וראמשהאר׳.מפקד חיל-האוויר, אלוף תומר בר, וראש מבצעי אוויר, תת-אלוף גלעד קינן, פיקדו על התקיפה בזמן אמת בתא השליטה. pic.twitter.com/rbKKmoGo6M
— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) June 22, 2025
- 17:45 GMT
Iran is ready to defend itself by “all necessary means” after unprecedented US strikes on its nuclear facilities, the country’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei has said. He also condemned what he described as an “unconscionable act of aggression – perpetrated by a nuclear-armed state… against a non-nuclear weapon country.”
- 17:39 GMT
The US State Department has ordered non-emergency US government personnel and family members to leave Lebanon “due to the volatile and unpredictable security situation in the region.”
- 17:26 GMT
Four Israeli drones were intercepted and destroyed in the skies of the Fars province by air defenses based there.
© Telegram/isna94
- 16:49 GMT
Russia, China, and Pakistan have circulated a draft resolution among UN Security Council members condemning the US attacks on Iran, RIA Novosti has said citing sources.
The co-sponsors of the document demand an immediate ceasefire and also offer to guarantee Tehran’s peaceful nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions.
- 16:28 GMT
It’s possible that Iran won’t get rid of its nuclear technologies, preferring to be more like North Korea than Libya, former US diplomat Jim Jartas has told RT.
“That’s one of the possibilities that the Iranians would say ‘We don’t want to be Libya.” Look what happened to the Libyans when they got rid of their nuclear program. Much better off being North Korea, because Kim Jong-un, he gets respect because he actually does have nukes”, he suggested.
- 16:08 GMT
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said that Tehran reserves the right “to defend the nation and the territorial integrity of the country.”
“What the world is witnessing today is a worrying and unacceptable trend. What has been witnessed by the Zionist regime in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and now in Iran is nothing but the merciless slaughter of human beings,” he said in a phone conversation with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The latter called for solving the issue through diplomacy.
- 15:44 GMT
Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has said he does not know the extent of the damage at the Fordow nuclear facility in the wake of last night’s US airstrikes.
“There are clear indications of impacts, but as for the assessment for the degree of damage underground, on this, we cannot pronounce ourselves,” he told CNN.
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Grossi also claimed that the Natanz above-ground facility has been “completely destroyed,” while its underground halls “suffered a lot.”
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