Middle East
Commuters drive past an anti-Israel billboard in Tehran, on June 22, 2025. Photo: Atta Kenare/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Sunday vowed continued retaliation against US and Israeli targets following strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, warning that further responses would exceed enemy expectations and expose American vulnerabilities in the region.
“Operation True Promise 3 continues, and the aggressors must await responses that will make them regret and go beyond their calculations,” the IRGC said in a statement reported by state media, adding that “American bases in the region are not points of strength but rather factors of their greater vulnerability.”
The statement came hours after US President Donald Trump announced that American forces had struck Iran’s three primary nuclear sites - Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. Trump later told Fox News that six “bunker-buster” bombs were used against the Fordow plant, which houses Iran’s most advanced centrifuges, while Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from submarines targeted Natanz and Isfahan.
Iran and its regional proxies have repeatedly warned against any US involvement in the Israel-Iran war. However, it remains unclear how they will respond to the move by Trump.
The IRGC condemned the US attack, calling it “a sign of the aggressive front's inability to create real change in field equations.” It claimed that the operation was carried out “in complete coordination with the Zionist regime,” referring to Israel.
“The attack on nuclear facilities will strengthen the resolve of Iranian scientists, and the IRGC will not be intimidated by American and Zionist clamor,” the statement added.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that Sunday’s attack “shows that America is the main factor” behind Israel’s “hostile actions” against Iran.
Israel initially struck Iran’s nuclear facilities on June 13, killing several senior military commanders. The attack triggered retaliatory strikes from Tehran, escalating tensions between the two countries and halting indirect nuclear talks between Iran and the United States.
“Although they initially tried to conceal their role, after the decisive and deterrent response of our country's armed forces and witnessing the obvious inability of the Zionist regime, they were forced to enter the field themselves,” Pezeshkian said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday said that Tehran is ready to resume nuclear negotiations once Israel halts its attacks. However, following Sunday’s attack, he said that the United States and Israel “decided to blow up” diplomacy.
Speaking at a press conference in Istanbul, Araghchi warned that the Trump administration is “solely and fully responsible for the dangerous consequences and far-reaching implications of its act of aggression.”
Araghchi noted that the US collaboration with Israel “has once again revealed the extent of the United States’ hostility towards the peace seeking people of Iran.”
World leaders have repeatedly urged restraint and called for a return to diplomatic efforts.
In response to the US strikes, Iran launched attacks on multiple sites in Israel on Sunday, including Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. Israel’s national emergency service, Magen David Adom, reported nearly dozens injured in the assault.
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