Iran’s armed forces chief of staff Abdolrahim Mousavi vowed on Monday that the country would take “firm action” in response to US strikes on key nuclear sites.

“This crime and desecration will not go unanswered,” said Mousavi in a video statement published on state TV, adding that “we will take firm action against the American mistake”.

Meanwhile Donald thinks Iranians should overthrow their government if it refuses to negotiate on its nuclear program, but the US president is “still interested” in diplomacy, the White House said on Monday.

“If the Iranian regime refuses to come to a peaceful diplomatic solution, which the president is still interested and engaging in, by the way, why shouldn’t the Iranian people take away the power of this incredibly violent regime that has been suppressing them for decades?” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Fox News.

US bombers attacked Iran’s heavily guarded and secretive nuclear enrichment sites over the weekend, joining Israel’s military campaign to destroy the Iranian nuclear program.

Top officials have repeatedly insisted the US goal is not regime change in Iran, but Trump veered off that messaging Sunday with a social media post saying “why wouldn’t there be a Regime change???”

The risky bombing mission was a complete success, according to the White House, with Trump announcing in another post that “Monumental Damage was done” to the sites. However, there is no independent verification of how much Iran’s nuclear program has been set back.

Iran is accused by Israel, the United States and other Western powers of seeking to build nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian power program, something Tehran has always denied.

Israel power supplier reports damage near ‘strategic’ facility

Israel’s state power company reported supply disruptions on Monday after damage near a “strategic infrastructure facility” at an undisclosed location, as Iran launched a fresh wave of missiles.

“Due to damage near a strategic infrastructure facility of the Israel Electric Corporation… disruptions in electricity supply are being reported in several communities in the area,” the IEC said in a statement, without specifying the cause.

Avraham Rabukhin, head of the grid division for the Tel Aviv and Coastal district, later told AFP that a missile fell near one of the company’s facilities.

Journalists were allowed to film the area of the strike, but under Israel’s military censorship were ordered not to publish any information about the location.

Rabukhin said teams arrived on scene to assess the damage between 15 and 30 minutes after receiving the initial reports.

“In the next half an hour, we connected all the disconnected customers,” he added.

“It’s very small damage, and we will do our best to do all repairing works.”

Iran launched at least three salvos of missiles at Israel on Monday morning, the Israeli military said. Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service reported no casualties.

AFP footage showed an excavator clearing away debris at the site of a missile strike in southern Israel.

Israel launched large-scale attacks on Iran on June 13 targeting its missile and nuclear facilities, as well as military leaders and security services.

The full extent of the damage from Iran’s attacks on Israel is not known due to military censorship rules, but at least 50 impacts have been acknowledged nationwide and 24 people have died, according to official figures.

Aerial assaults raged between the two foes on Monday, while Tehran vowed retaliation over the bunker-buster bombs American warplanes unleashed at the weekend on three nuclear sites.

AFP

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