Iran finally reveals what happened to its nuclear programme in strikes
By ELENA SALVONI and NIKKI SCHWAB, and EMILY GOODIN, and NATASHA ANDERSON and RACHEL BOWMAN
Iran has today admitted its nuclear facilities were 'badly damaged' by US bombs after Donald Trump insisted they were 'obliterated' and lashed out at 'fake' news coverage suggesting he failed to deliver a knock-out blow.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei conceded there had been significant impact caused by American bunker-busting bombs at the country's three main nuclear sites at Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz.
It comes after Trump insisted the nuclear facilities were 'obliterated' and compared his airstrikes to the two nuclear bombs dropped on Japan at the end of World War II.
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Meanwhile NATO chief Mark Rutte suggested Donald Trump dealt with Israel and Iran's war in the Middle East like a 'daddy' who uses 'strong language' to stop two children fighting in a schoolyard.
Rutte has put on a deferential and even fawning display with the US president, calling his intervention in the conflict 'decisive' and labelling him a 'man of strength but also a man of peace'.
Trump yesterday shared private messages from Rutte which also showed him gushing over the 'extraordinary' US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, which the US leader said 'obliterated' the sites.
Live updates below
Trump a 'daddy' who uses 'strong language' to stop 'kids' fighting, NATO chief says
Trump is a 'daddy' who has used 'strong language' to stop the warring parties in the Middle East, NATO chief Mark Rutte suggested.
The US president said during a press conference that he believes the ceasefire between Iran and Israel will hold because they have had enough of fighting.
'They're not going to be fighting each other, they've had it,' he told reporters.
'Like two kids in the schoolyard, they fight like hell, you can't stop them. Let them fight for two or three minutes then it's easy to stop them.
Rutte interjected with a laugh: 'Daddy has to use strong language.'
'You have to use strong language, every once in a while you have to use a certain word!' Trump replied, referencing his use of the f-word yesterday.
Watch the moment below:
09:49
Israel agrees with White House that US strikes set Iran's nuclear programme back 'many years'
The Trump administration has been citing an assessment by the Israel Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC) that the damage caused by Israeli and American attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities set Iran's nuclear capabilities back by 'many years'.
Benjamin Netanyahu's office now appears to have confirmed this by releasing a statement from the IAEC:
The devastating US strike on Fordow destroyed the site's critical infrastructure and rendered the enrichment facility inoperable.
We assess that the American strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, combined with Israeli strikes on other elements of Iran's military nuclear program, has set back Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons by many years.
The achievement can continue indefinitely if Iran does not get access to nuclear material.
09:44
Benjamin Netanyahu thanks Trump for support after president said Israeli PM 'should be proud'
Benjamin Netanyahu has thanked Donald Trump for supportive comments made at the NATO summit today.
The Israeli prime minister shared a short excerpt of Trump's comments in a clip on X.
'[Israel] have been great. Bibi Netanyahu should be really proud of himself,' Trump said.
Seemingly referring to Iran, he went on: 'They're not going to be building bombs for a long time.'
Netanyahu captioned the clip: 'Thank you President Trump'.
Trump's positive comments came as he appeared to compare Israel to a 'kid' over its 'fighting' with Iran, and a day after he criticised it in an expletive-laden rant.
09:44
Trump and Zelensky meeting at NATO summit
A meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump has begun on the sidelines of the NATO summit in The Hague, the Ukrainian presidency said.
The two leaders were set to discuss additional sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and arms procurement for Kyiv, a source had earlier told AFP.
Yesterday Trump said Tuesday he would likely meet Zelensky in the Netherlands.
'Yeah probably I'll see him,' Trump told reporters on Air Force One.
Asked what he would say to Zelensky, with whom he had a major row in the Oval Office in February, Trump replied: 'I'll say 'how you doing?' He's in a tough situation, should have never been there.'
09:32
NATO chief denies his flattery of Trump is 'demeaning'
NATO chief Mark Rutte has denied that the flattery he has aimed at Donald Trump is 'demeaning'.
The secretary-general earlier called the US president 'daddy' in reference to his intervention in the Israel-Iran conflict, which Trump had compared to two children fighting in a school playground.
Rutte told a news conference in The Hague: 'It is a question of taste.
'He is a good friend, and when he is doing stuff, which is forcing us… when it comes to making more investments, would that have been the result of this summit if he would have not been re-elected president?'
09:24
NATO leaders agree to hike defence spending by 5 per cent of GDP
NATO leaders have agreed on a massive hike in defence spending after pressure from Donald Trump.
Each also expressed their 'ironclad commitment' to come to each other's aid if attacked.
The 32 leaders endorsed a final summit statement saying:
Allies commit to invest 5 per cent of GDP annually on core defence requirements as well as defence- and security-related spending by 2035 to ensure our individual and collective obligations.
09:16
Macron says trade war among NATO partners 'makes no sense'
French President Emmanuel Macron has called for a swift agreement to resolve the tariffs standoff between the EU and the United States, saying trade war among NATO partners 'makes no sense.'
'We can't say to each other, among allies, we need to spend more... and wage trade war against one another, it makes no sense,' Macron told reporters at the alliance's summit in The Hague.
We need to reach a deal now.
It comes as Nato leaders agreed on a massive hike in defence spending after pressure from US President Donald Trump, and expressed their 'ironclad commitment' to come to each other's aid if attacked.
09:11
Iran calls NATO chief remarks on US strikes 'disgraceful'
Iran has branded NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte's gushing note to President Donald Trump on US strikes targeting key nuclear sites as 'disgraceful, despicable and irresponsible'.
On Tuesday, Rutte hailed in a pre-NATO summit note to Trump what he called his 'decisive action' in Iran, days after the United States conducted unprecedented strikes on its nuclear facilities.
Rutte said the move 'was truly extraordinary and something no one else dared to do. It makes us safer.'
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei hit back, saying it was 'disgraceful, despicable and irresponsible for #NATO's SG to congratulate a 'truly extraordinary' criminal act of aggression against a sovereign State.'
Whoever 'supports a crime is regarded as complicit,' Baqaei said in a post on X.
08:39
UK to buy 12 US fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear bombs
The UK will buy 12 US-made F-35A fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear bombs, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced today
After he was accused of flip-flopping over the Iran bombing raid, Sir Keir sat alongside Donald Trump for the formal discussions at the NATO summit in the Netherlands,
He insisted the Special Relationship had not been dented from apparent differences over the strike on Tehran's nuclear sites.
After unveiling a major expansion of its nucelar deterrent, the UK government called it 'the biggest strengthening of the U.K.'s nuclear posture in a generation.'
Read more here:
Keir Starmer scrambles to cosy up to Trump at Nato summit
Keir Starmer was carefully positioned next to Donald Trump for the 'family photo' at the gathering in The Hague.
08:32
Iran says US 'torpedoed democracy'
The US 'torpedoed democracy' after it 'greenlighted' Israeli strikes on Iran, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman has said.
In comments published by Al Jazeera, Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran would have to ascertain whether the US is 'really serious' about diplomacy before any form of engagement after being asked about Trump's suggestion that America would have 'some sort of a relationship' with his country.
Questioning how any trust could remain between the US and Iran, Baghaei said:
While they [US officials] have been talking about diplomacy, they greenlighted the Israelis to attack Iran. They [the US] torpedoed diplomacy.
08:20
Trump claims 'great progress' made to end Israel-Hamas war
US President Donald Trump said that 'great progress' was being made to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza as a new ceasefire push began more than 20 months since the start of the conflict.
'I think great progress is being made on Gaza,' Trump told reporters ahead of a NATO summit in the Netherlands, adding that his special envoy Steve Witkoff had told him 'Gaza is very close.'
He linked his optimism about imminent 'very good news' for the Gaza Strip to a ceasefire agreed on Tuesday between Israel and Hamas backer Iran to end their 12-day war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also suggested that Israel's blitz of Iran's nuclear and missile facilities, as well as its security forces linked to overseas militant groups, could help end the Gaza conflict.
Netanyahu faces growing calls from opposition politicians, relatives of hostages being held in Gaza and even members of his ruling coalition to bring an end to the fighting, triggered by Palestinian militant group Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack.
Mandatory Credit: Photo by APAImages/Shutterstock (15373470z) Palestinians search for casualties at the site of an overnight Israeli strike on a fuel station where displaced people shelter, in Gaza City, June 25, 2025. Photo by Omar Ashtawy\\ apaimages Palestinians search for casualties at the site of an overnight Israeli strike on a fuel station where displaced people shelter, Gaza city, Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territory - 25 Jun 2025
Palestinians search for casualties at a fuel station in Gaza
07:57
US strike on Fordow 'got the job done' - but questions remain over uranium removal
The US strikes on the Fordow nuclear facility in Iran 'got the job done,' an Israeli source has told ABC news.
'You don't have to go down into Fordo to know what happened,' the source, who reportedly has knowledge of the Israeli intelligence assessment, said.
They added that if Israel was not satisfied with the results of the US strikes then they 'would have bombed Fordow again,' which they did not.
But another source who spoke to the outlet said the damage was not as extensive as it might seem, reportedly saying that from an Israeli perspective the outcome is 'really not good'.
Two sources said they did not know how much enriched uranium Iran could have been moved from the sites ahead of the Israeli and US strikes on them.
The number of remaining centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium, is also not known.
Establishing this information is expected to take months, one source said, if it is ever ascertained.
07:35
Iran to ease internet curbs after ceasefire
Iranian authorities have today announced the gradual easing of internet restrictions following the implementation of a ceasefire with Israel.
Curbs were introduced during the 12-day war amid fears Israeli intelligence was hacking into mobile phones to gain information.
'The communication network is gradually returning to its previous state,' said the Revolutionary Guards' cyber security command in a statement carried by state media.
The country's communications minister, Sattar Hashemi, said in a post on X:
With the normalisation of conditions, the state of communication access has returned to its previous conditions
07:29
Iran's nuclear installations 'badly damaged by US strikes'
Iran's nuclear facilities were 'badly damaged' in US and Israeli strikes during the 12-day war with Israel, foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei told Al Jazeera English on Wednesday.
'Our nuclear installations have been badly damaged, thats for sure, because it has come under repeated attacks by Israeli and American aggressors,' Baqaei told the broadcaster.
07:21
Trump compares Iran strike to Hiroshima and Nagasaki
by Emily Goodin, Senior White House Correspondent
President Donald Trump compared his airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear sites to the two nuclear bombs dropped on Japan that ended World War II.
His strikes also ended a war, he noted, pointing to the Israel and Iran ceasefire.
‘That hit ended the war,' Trump said.
'I don't want to use an example of Hiroshima. I don't want to use an example of Nagasaki. But that was essentially the same thing. That ended that war.'
‘If we didn’t take that out, they would have been they’d be fighting right now,’ he added.
Trump didn’t rule out another airstrike if necessary.
When asked whether the US would strike again if Iran built its nuclear enrichment program, he replied: 'Sure.'
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