US claims strikes on Iran nuclear sites caused ‘severe damage,’ but full impact is unclear

President Donald Trump asserted on his Truth Social platform that Iran’s nuclear sites sustained “monumental damage” in the American attack, though a U.S. assessment on the strikes is still underway.

“The biggest damage took place far below ground level. Bullseye!!!” he wrote.

U.S. defense officials have said they are working to determine about just how much damage the strikes did.

Iran as well has not said how much damage was done in the attack, though Tehran has not offered any details so far on the strikes it has faced from Israel in its war with that country.

An analysis of satellite photos by a nuclear nonproliferation group based in Washington shows Iran likely filled in tunnels at its nuclear site at Isfahan ahead of U.S. strikes early Sunday.

The Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security published satellite images taken by Airbus it assessed showed trucks dumping soil into tunnels at the site on Friday.

The U.S. attack likely targeted the tunnel entries, the group said.

“At least three of the four tunnel entrances are collapsed,” it said. “The status of the fourth one is unclear.”

Iran also is believed to have filled in tunnels at its underground Fordo enrichment facility before the American strike. That may have been to protect the sites from the strikes.

Meanwhile, the U.S. cruise missile strike at the Isfahan site likely destroyed its uranium conversion facility, the Institute for Science and International Security said.

That facility takes natural uranium and turns it into uranium hexafluoride, which is what Iran spins in centrifuges to enrich.

Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said her government endorsed the U.S. strikes.

“We support action to prevent Iran getting a nuclear weapon and that is what this is,” she said.

Her remarks to Channel Nine news Monday were firmer than an official statement supplied Sunday by her government immediately after the strikes that stopped short of backing President Trump’s measures.

“Ultimately we want to see de-escalation and diplomacy,” Wong said Monday.

She would not say whether Australian satellite communications or signals intelligence were employed by the United States. Both countries are members of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing partnership.

But Wong said the U.S. had been clear that “this was a unilateral strike.”

A social media account associated with Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, published a propaganda post portraying missile strikes on a darkened city with a giant skull bearing the Star of David on it.
“The punishment continues,” the poster read.

Iranian state media reported that air defense systems were firing in Tehran, Iran’s capital, while explosions could be heard in the nearby city of Karaj.

Satellite images analyzed by The Associated Press appear to show at least one crater at Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment site after the United States targeted the underground portion of the facility.

A hole of around 5 meters (16 feet) could be seen in images taken by Planet Labs PBC and Maxar Technologies on Sunday after the American strikes. That hole sits directly over the underground portion of the site, which includes centrifuge halls.

Iran has offered no assessment of how much damage has been done at the site. Previous Israeli strikes destroyed an above-ground centrifuge hall, as well as all of the power equipment at the site, likely cutting its electrical supply.

Sirens began sounding in Tel Aviv, Israel’s main business and commercial hub. Faint explosions can also be heard in central Israel.

The Israeli military confirmed other attacks on Iran late Sunday which included strikes on Hamedan and Kermanshah in western Iran, as well as strikes in Tehran, Iran’s capital.

Israel also hit what its military described as a missile production site in Shahroud.

Iran has not acknowledged losses of military materiel in the war so far.

The Washington-based group Human Rights Activists offered the figures, which covers the entirety of Iran. It said of those dead, it identified 380 civilians and 253 security force personnel being killed.

Human Rights Activists, which also provided detailed casualty figures during the 2022 protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, crosschecks local reports in the Islamic Republic against a network of sources it has developed in the country.

Iran has not been offering regular death tolls during the conflict and has minimized casualties in the past. On Saturday, Iran’s Health Ministry said some 400 Iranians had been killed and another 3,056 wounded in the Israeli strikes.

A Mideast-based maritime center overseen by the U.S. military warned that American strikes targeting Iran’s nuclear program caused “escalating concerns” for shippers, though there were no immediate signs of Tehran moving to disrupt the Strait of Hormuz.

The Joint Maritime Information Center, which is overseen by the U.S. Navy, gave the warning, noting both Iran and the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels had threatened shipping in the region. The Houthis on Saturday said it would attack U.S.-associated ships if America attacked Iran.

However, the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, remained unaffected for the time being, the center said. Iranian officials have threatened the Strait over recent days.

“U.S.-associated vessels have successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz without interruption, which is a positive sign for the immediate future,” the center said.

However, the center noted “electronic interference” over areas of the Strait and the Persian Gulf. That’s likely an effort by Iran to disrupt GPS systems as a defensive measure in its war with Israel.

The U.S. State Department issued a worldwide caution to Americans after its strike on Iranian nuclear sites.

The warning, issued early Monday morning in the Middle East, read: “The conflict between Israel and Iran has resulted in disruptions to travel and periodic closure of airspace across the Middle East. There is the potential for demonstrations against U.S. citizens and interests abroad. The Department of State advises U.S. citizens worldwide to exercise increased caution.”

Across the U.S., Americans expressed a mixture of support, apprehension and confoundment at the bombings, which officials said caused severe damage to Iran’s nuclear sites.

Administration officials said the strikes left room for Iran to return to negotiations over its nuclear program. Yet if the conflict spirals, it could test Trump’s foreign diplomacy skills and also his support at home.

At Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, the B-2 bombers that participated in the weekend strikes returned home on Sunday. Nearby retired Air Force veteran Ken Slabaugh said he was “100% supportive” of Trump’s decision.

▶ Read more more about how Americans are reacting to the strikes on Iran

Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council called by Iran that the U.S. strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities “removed the greatest existential threat facing the free world.”

He said diplomacy was tried over and over but claimed Iran “used the negotiating table as camouflage, a delay tactic, a way to buy time while building missiles and enriching uranium.”

Danon said Israel gave Iran years, but it wouldn’t move, so Israel acted and “when the world stood at the edge of a nuclear catastrophe, America stepped forward.”

Now the world must ensure Iran is never a nuclear threat again, he said.

France is mobilizing military planes to help evacuate its citizens from Israel to Cyprus if the Israeli government allows it, the French Foreign Ministry said Sunday night.

The French government repatriated 160 French citizens in emergency or vulnerable condition on an evacuation flight from Jordan on Sunday, and plans similar flights Monday and Tuesday, the ministry said in a statement.

The flights were announced after French President Emmanuel Macron held an emergency security meeting about the Mideast wars Sunday night.

France has warned its citizens against traveling to Israel, and urged all French citizens in Iran to leave.

France’s government faced some criticism for not arranging repatriation flights immediately after Israel’s strikes on Iran earlier this month.

Acting U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shear reiterated Trump’s warning at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that “any Iranian attack – direct or indirect – against Americans or American bases will be met with devastating retaliation.”

She said at the meeting called by Iran that the U.S. acted in defense of Israel and American citizens to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. She said Iran “obfuscated” its nuclear weapons program and “stonewalled good-faith efforts in recent negotiations.”

Shea urged the Security Council to call on Iran to end its 47-year effort to eradicate Israel, terminate its nuclear program, stop targeting Americans and U.S. interests and “negotiate peace in good faith.”

The price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 3.9% Sunday to $80 a barrel. U.S. crude rose 4.3% to $77 a barrel.

Futures for the S&P 500 fell 0.6%, and treasury yields fell slightly.

The conflict between Israel and Iran has sent oil prices yo-yoing over the last week, which has in turn caused see-saw moves for the U.S. stock market, because of rising and ebbing fears that the war could disrupt the global flow of crude. Iran is a major producer of oil and also sits on the narrow Strait of Hormuz, through which much of the world’s crude passes.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a national terrorism bulletin Sunday warning of possible cyber attacks and violence, including antisemitic hate crimes, following U.S. attacks on Iranian nuclear sites.

The department said there are “no specific credible threats against the homeland,” but noted the Iranian government has condemned the U.S. action.

“A heightened threat environment across the United States” is expected to last throughout the summer, the bulletin said.

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities that “the U.S. has opened a Pandora’s box.”

“No one knows what new catastrophes and suffering it will bring,” Nebenzia said.

He said Russia offered its mediation to the U.S. to find a peaceful and mutually agreeable solution to Iran’s nuclear program, but the United States, especially its leaders, are “clearly not interested in diplomacy today.”

“Unless we stop the escalation,” Nebenzia warned, “the Middle East will find itself on the verge of a large scale conflict with unpredictable consequences for the entire international security system, plus the entire world might end up on the verge of a nuclear disaster.”

Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that “Iran had repeatedly warned the warmongering U.S. regime to refrain from stumbling into this quagmire.”

He accused Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of succeeding in getting U.S. President Donald Trump to do the West’s “dirty work” and hijack U.S. foreign policy, “dragging the United States into yet another costly and baseless war.”

Iravani called U.S. and Israeli aggression against Iran “a clear and flagrant breach of international law.”

He said that as Iran’s foreign minister held talks this week with several European counterparts, “the United States decided to destroy that diplomacy.”

“What conclusion can be drawn from this situation?,” Iravani asked. “From the perspective of Western countries, Iran must `return to the negotiating table.’ But, as Iran’s foreign minister mentioned, `how can Iran return to something it never left — let alone.”

Iran said that the U.S. “decided to destroy diplomacy” with its strikes on the country’s nuclear program and that the Iranian military will decide the “timing, nature and scale of Iran’s proportionate response.”

Iran’s U.N. ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, spoke to an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council hours after the U.S. attack.

“We will take all measures necessary,” he told the meeting.

Trump suggested that could he see Iran rejecting its government leadership, after officials in his administration stressed that the White House was not seeking a regime change.

“It’s not politically correct to use the term, ‘Regime Change,’ but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change???” Trump posted on social media. “MIGA!!!”

The statement marked something of a reversal from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Sunday morning news conference when he said that regime change was not part of the mission in the aerial bombardment of three Iranian nuclear sites.

The State Department has doubled the number of emergency evacuation flights it is providing for American citizens wishing to leave Israel. It also ordered the departure of nonessential staff from the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon and is stepping up travel warnings around the Middle East amid concerns Iran will retaliate against U.S. interests in the region.

In internal and public notices, the department over the weekend significantly ramped up its cautionary advice to Americans in the Mideast.

In a notice on Sunday, after American strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities, the department said it had ordered nonessential personnel and the families of staff at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut to leave Lebanon “due to the volatile and unpredictable security situation in the region.”

Rafael Grossi told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that the U.S. attacks on three Iranian nuclear sites threaten a widening of the Israel-Iran conflict but also offer a return to diplomacy.

“If that window closes, violence and destruction could reach unthinkable levels, and the global nonproliferation regime as we know it could crumble and fall,” the International Atomic Energy Agency director general said.

Grossi urged a return to diplomacy, and for Iran to allow IAEA inspectors to go back to its nuclear sites to account, most importantly, for the 4,400 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60%.

He said IAEA inspectors are in Iran but need a cessation of hostilities to go to nuclear sites, assess damage, and protect nuclear materials and equipment.

U.N. nuclear chief says no one can assess damage at Iran’s main uranium enrichment plant at Fordo.

Rafael Grossi told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council called by Iran that craters are visible at the Fordo site, indicating the U.S. use of ground penetrating munitions. But the underground damage cannot be assessed yet.

At the Isfahan site, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said additional buildings were hit, some related to converting uranium, and “entrances to tunnels used for the storage of enriched material appear to have been hit.”

At the Natanz nuclear enrichment site, Grossi said the fuel enrichment plant has been hit again.

“At this time, no one, including the IAEA, is in a position to assess the underground damage at Fordo,” Grossi said.

U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenca told the council that Iranian state media reported that the three sites had been evacuated and the highly enriched uranium stockpile was transferred in advance of the U.S. strikes

Pushing back against criticism by a Republican lawmaker, President Donald Trump said the U.S. had taken “the ‘bomb’” away from Iran by striking three nuclear sites.

Trump on Sunday posted an extended censure of Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who has said that Trump needed congressional approval to launch the aerial attack.

“We had a spectacular military success yesterday, taking the “bomb” right out of their hands (and they would use it if they could!),” Trump said on Truth Social.

The U.S. president said Massie is not part of his “Make America Great Again” movement.

Massie “is not MAGA, even though he likes to say he is. Actually, MAGA doesn’t want him, doesn’t know him, and doesn’t respect him.”

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council called by Iran that “We cannot – and must not – give up on peace.”

He urged immediate and decisive action to halt the fighting and return to “serious, sustained negotiations” on Iran’s nuclear program. He called for talks to find a verifiable solution with full access by U.N. nuclear inspectors and a restoration of trust.

In urging a return to diplomacy and a peaceful solution, Guterres stressed Sunday that one path leads to wider war and the other to de-escalation and dialogue. “We know which path is right,” he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron is urging a return to dialogue and diplomatic efforts to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons, after U.S. strikes that herald a ''new phase’’ in the wars in the Middle East.

Presiding over an emergency security meeting in Paris on Sunday evening, Macron said, ''We are living through a grave time for the stability and security for the Middle East, and for our own security.’'

Macron spoke with Iran’s president Saturday and Sunday as well as with other Mideast and European leaders, and said he called on everyone to avoid escalation.

''No strictly military response will bring the sought-after results,’' he said.

Macron speaks regularly to Trump but did not mention the U.S. president in his remarks. Macron, Trump and other world leaders are expected to meet at a NATO summit in the Netherlands in the coming days.

Italy’s Defense Minister said Sunday he has initiated “preventive measures to strengthen the security of Italian contingents abroad,” following U.S. attacks on Iran nuclear sites.
“Our military personnel are not involved in operations and do not represent a direct target of possible Iranian retaliation,” Guido Crosetto said. “However, as a precaution, we have relocated some assets positioned near U.S. infrastructure or bases, to prevent them from being exposed to collateral damage.”
Crosetto also said he raised “the operational alert level” at all Italian military bases.

Iran has spent decades building multi-tiered military capabilities at home and across the region that were at least partly aimed at deterring the United States from attacking it. By entering Israel’s war, the U.S. may have removed the last rationale for holding them in reserve.

A decision to retaliate against the U.S. and its regional allies would give Iran a far larger target bank and one that is much closer than Israel, allowing it to potentially use its missiles and drones to greater effect. The U.S. and Israel have far superior capabilities, but those haven’t always proven decisive in America’s recent history of military interventions in the region.

Ever since Israel started the war on June 13, Iranian officials from the supreme leader on down have warned the U.S. to stay out, saying it would have dire consequences for the entire region.

It should soon be clear whether those were empty threats or a grim forecast.

▶ Read more about the potential next steps Iran could take in retaliation

A new commander of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard says that “today, we are truly going through a sensitive phase.”
Maj. Gen. Mohammad Pakpour spoke in a video released Sunday by Iran’s military.

Pakpour asserted that with the bombings, “the people’s solidarity increases. This is a divine blessing.”

He spoke of “martyrs” but without specifics on a toll.

The Israel Airports Authority says 24 daily outgoing flights will start operating on Monday, after the country’s airspace was closed for departures since the start of the war with Iran. For the past week, a similar number of daily incoming flights has been bringing back Israelis stranded abroad.

In a briefing with reporters, Transportation Minister Miri Regev said that out of safety concerns, each departing flight will carry no more than 50 passengers, allowing roughly 1000 people to leave each day.

It wasn’t clear who will be eligible for the flights, but she says an exceptions committee will ensure priority for “humanitarian cases.”

The Tourism Ministry said that as of Thursday, some 22,000 foreign tourists had requested help in leaving Israel. Those who do not want to wait for flights can cross into neighboring Jordan or Egypt.

Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority says some 65,000 Israelis have have returned to Israel since the start of the war by air, sea, and through the land crossings from Egypt and Jordan.

The army’s spokesman, Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, says Israel and the U.S. are working together to assess the damage to Iran’s nuclear program.

“The damage is deep. We’re continuing to gather intelligence together with our partners to assess the depth.”

The stealth bombers that dropped massive bunker-buster bombs on Iranian nuclear facilities have begun returning to a U.S. base in Missouri.

An Associated Press journalist watched on a clear but windy Sunday afternoon as at least seven of the B-2 Spirit bombers came in for landing at Whiteman Air Force Base.
A first group of four of the stealth aircraft did a loop around the base before approaching a runway from the north. A final group of three arrived within 10 minutes.

U.S. officials have said that one B-2 group headed west from the Missouri base on Saturday, intended as a decoy to throw off Iranians. Another flight of seven quietly flew off eastward, ultimately engaging in the Iran mission.

Hezbollah has long been considered Iran’s first line of defense in case of a war with Israel. But since Israel launched its massive barrage against Iran, the Lebanese militant group has stayed out of the fray — even after the U.S. entered the conflict. A network of powerful Iran-backed militias in Iraq has also remained mostly quiet. Domestic political concerns, as well as tough losses suffered in nearly two years of regional conflicts and upheavals, appear to have led these Iran allies to take a back seat in the latest round convulsing the region.“Despite all the restraining factors, wild cards remain,” said Tamer Badawi, an associate fellow with the Germany-based think tank Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient.That’s especially true after the U.S. stepped in with strikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran. Read more about Iranian allies taking a back seat in the conflict between Israel and Iran

Israel’s military chief says the U.S. attack on Iran’s nuclear sites was a key “turning point.”

Lt. Gen. Eyal Amir says Israel’s ongoing operation against Iran, coupled with the American attack, has caused “significant damage” to its nuclear program.

“We’ve reached a turning point in the campaign, following last night’s very precise and impressive strike by the U.S. military on key nuclear sites,” he says.

The U.N.’s office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs said Sunday that it is witnessing “a chilling pattern of Israeli forces opening fire on crowds gathering to get food” in Gaza.

Israel began allowing food into Gaza this past month after cutting it off completely for 10 weeks. Most of the supplies go to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed private contractor, which operates four food distribution points inside Israeli military zones.

A trickle of aid goes to the U.N. and humanitarian groups. Israeli troops open fire in the direction of crowds crossing military zones to get to the aid, they say. So far, 450 people have been killed while trying to access aid, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

“Those who are shot are often out of reach of ambulances,” said Jonathan Whittall, OCHA’s Head of Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, adding that some are still missing and presumed dead in militarized zones near U.S.-Israeli distribution points.

Several close U.S. allies urged a return to the negotiating table in the wake of strikes on Iran. Some countries and groups in the region, including those that support Iran, condemned the move while also urging de-escalation.

Here is a look at some of the reactions from governments and officials around the world:

• United Nations: U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “gravely alarmed” by the use of force by the United States.
• Russia: Dmitry Medvedev, who serves as deputy head of President Vladimir Putin’s Security Council, said several countries were prepared to supply Tehran with nuclear weapons. He didn’t specify which countries, but said the U.S. attack caused minimal damage and would not stop Tehran from pursuing nuclear weapons.
• European Union: The European Union’s top diplomat said Iran must not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon, but she urged those involved in the conflict to show restraint.
• Latin America: Left-wing Latin American governments expressed fierce opposition to the U.S. strikes.
• The Vatican: Pope Leo XIV made a strong appeal for peace during his Sunday Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s square, calling for international diplomacy to “silence the weapons.”

▶ Read more reactions to the attacks

The Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah condemned the U.S. strikes on Iran in a statement Sunday but did not threaten to join in Tehran’s retaliation.

“The blatant deceit and deception practiced by U.S. President Donald Trump, driven by illusions of control and arrogance ... confirms that the United States of America, along with the tyrants of arrogance, is a threat to the security and stability of the Islamic Republic,” the statement said. "... This proves to the entire world that America is the official sponsor of terrorism and does not recognize international conventions, humanitarian laws, pledges, or obligations.”

The U.S. considers Hezbollah to be a terrorist group. It called for “Arab and Islamic countries and the free peoples of the world” to stand with Iran and for the “United Nations and international and legal bodies, especially the International Atomic Energy Agency, to shoulder their responsibilities regarding this dangerous aggression.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called on Iran’s leaders to enter negotiations and “not to take any further action that could destabilize the region.”

In a joint statement after holding talks Sunday, they said: “We will continue our joint diplomatic efforts to defuse tensions and ensure the conflict does not intensify and spread further.”

The three leaders stressed that “Iran can never have a nuclear weapon and can no longer pose a threat to regional security,” and affirmed support for Israel’s security, but stopped short of endorsing the American strikes.

Just a day before the U.S. struck, top diplomats from the three countries and the European Union met Iran’s foreign minister in an attempt to find a diplomatic way to end the conflict with Israel and ease tensions over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, said the act violated the U.S. Constitution.

“The United States should not be in an offensive war against Iran without a vote of Congress,” Kaine said. “The Constitution is completely clear on it. And I am so disappointed that the president has acted so prematurely.“

Kaine said he would force a floor vote in the Senate this week on a resolution that would require a vote ahead of military action against Iran. “This is the U.S. jumping into a war of choice at Donald Trump’s urging, without any compelling national security interests for the United States to act in this way, particularly without a debate and vote in Congress,” he added.

Hegseth said Sunday that “our boys in those bombers are on their way home right now.”

But a U.S. official tells The Associated Press that a woman was among those piloting the seven B-2 bombers that dropped the powerful bunker-buster bombs on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Officials have said each bomber had two crew members aboard. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the mission publicly.

The State Department has ordered non-essential personnel and the families of staff at the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon to leave as concerns mount about Iranian retaliation for American strikes in Iran.

In a notice issued on Sunday, the department said it had taken the step “due to the volatile and unpredictable security situation in the region.”

The notice made no mention of any potential evacuation flights or other assistance for private Americans wanting to leave Lebanon but said they should try to use existing commercial services to depart. The US has already organized several evacuations of American citizens from Israel and is advising American citizens in Iran on how to leave the country.

At Turkey’s border with Iran, Ferishteh Husseini said many residents had left Tehran following a warning from Israel to evacuate the city.

“Tehran is empty, there is no one,” she said as she crossed into Turkey. The Israeli airstrikes were mainly targeting military facilities, not civilian ones, but many people were still suffering, she said. Husseini said people were living in groups of 10-20 in one house and supplies were running short.

Another Tehran resident, Emir Rustemi, said he arrived at the border by bus and witnessed several roadblocks on the way.

Behnam Puran, from Tabriz, defended his country’s nuclear program. “We were minding our own business,” he said. “We were doing these procedures to gain electricity, not to produce bombs.”

“And a bunch of these countries putting out statements condemning us, privately, they all agree with us that this needed to be done. They got to do what they got to do for their own public relations purposes. But the only people in the world that are unhappy about what happened in Iran last night is the regime in Iran,” Rubio said on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”

He urged Iran to enter direct talks with the U.S. and said Trump’s administration has no objection to a civilian nuclear program.

“They don’t even talk to us directly. We always have to have a middleman. They want to pass messages and notes like we’re in third grade. We’re not doing that anymore. Direct negotiations,” Rubio said.

“Let’s talk about how we peacefully resolve this problem.” He thanked Washington’s European allies for pressing Iran to engage in face-to-face talks.

“If the regime wants peace, we’re ready for peace. If they want to do something else, they’re incredibly vulnerable. They can’t even protect their own airspace,” Rubio said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday.

Rubio also warned against Iranian attacks on countries in the region that host American military forces.

“That’s exactly why they are there. All those bases are there because those countries are afraid Iran will attack them,” Rubio said. “Those bases are there because those countries are petrified.”

An Israeli airstrike killed three members of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, semiofficial news agencies in the Islamic Republic reported Sunday.

The Mehr and Tasnim news agencies reported the attack took place in Zanjan province.