Refugees
Alarm grows after the US inserts itself into Israel’s war against Iran
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The world grappled Sunday with the United States inserting itself into Israel’s war by attacking Iranian nuclear sites, an operation that raised urgent questions about what remained of Tehran’s nuclear program and how its weakened military might respond.
Experts warned that worldwide efforts to contain the spread of nuclear weapons by peaceful means would be at stake in the days ahead, while fears of a wider regional conflict loomed large. The price of oil rose as financial markets reacted.
Iran lashed out at the U.S. for crossing “a very big red line” with its risky gambit to strike the three sites with missiles and 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs.
Iran’s U.N. ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that the U.S. “decided to destroy diplomacy,” and that the Iranian military will decide the “timing, nature and scale” of a “proportionate response.” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi flew to Moscow to coordinate with close ally Russia.
Tens of thousands of American troops are based in the Middle East. Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, said any country used by the U.S. to strike Iran ”will be a legitimate target for our armed forces,” the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
At first, the Trump administration indicated it wanted to restart diplomatic talks with Iran. “Let’s meet directly,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with CBS. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. “does not seek war.”
But President Donald Trump, who has warned of additional strikes if Tehran retaliates against U.S. forces, later mused about the possibility of “regime change ” in Iran.
The U.S. strikes, confirmed by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, hit the Fordo and Natanz enrichment facilities, as well as the Isfahan nuclear site. Iran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog said there were no immediate signs of radioactive contamination around them.
AP AUDIO: US inserts itself into Israel-Iran war and strikes 3 Iranian nuclear sites
AP correspondent Julie Walker reports the US inserts itself into Israel-Iran war and strikes 3 Iranian nuclear sites.
Trump claimed the U.S. “completely and fully obliterated” the sites, but the Pentagon reported “sustained, extremely severe damage and destruction.” Israeli army spokesman Effie Defrin said “the damage is deep,” but an assessment with the U.S. continued.
“We are very close to achieving our goals” in removing Iran’s nuclear and missile threats, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Sunday.
The head of the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, told the Security Council that no one was in a position to assess the underground damage at Fordo, which is dug deep into a mountain, but visible craters tracked with the U.S. announcements. He said IAEA inspectors should be allowed to look at the sites. The IAEA’s governing board planned an emergency meeting Monday.
Grossi stressed that a path for diplomacy remained, but if that fails, “violence and destruction could reach unthinkable levels,” and global efforts at nuclear nonproliferation “could crumble.”
Satellite images analyzed Monday by The Associated Press appear to show at least one crater at the Natanz site. 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.
With the attack that Washington said was carried out without detection, the United States inserted itself into a war it spent decades trying to avoid. Success could mean ending Iran’s nuclear ambitions and eliminating the last significant state threat to the security of Israel, its close ally. Failure — or overreach — could plunge the U.S. into another long and unpredictable conflict.
For Iran’s supreme leader, it could mark the end of a campaign to transform the Islamic Republic into a greater regional power that holds enriched nuclear material a step away from weapons-grade levels. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last spoke publicly on Wednesday, warning the U.S. that strikes targeting the Islamic Republic will “result in irreparable damage for them.”
Iran, battered by Israel’s largest-ever assault on it that began on June 13, has limited options for retaliation, as key allies have mostly stayed out of the conflict. It could attack U.S. forces stationed in the Middle East with the missiles and rockets that Israel hasn’t destroyed. It could attempt to close a key bottleneck for global oil supplies, the Strait of Hormuz, between it and Oman.
Or it could hurry to develop a nuclear weapon with what remains of its program. The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said its program will not be stopped.
New questions about Iran’s nuclear stockpile
Iran has long maintained that its nuclear program was peaceful, and U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that Tehran is not actively pursuing a bomb. However, Trump and Israeli leaders have argued that Iran could quickly assemble a nuclear weapon.
Israel has significantly degraded Iran’s air defenses and offensive missile capabilities and damaged its nuclear enrichment facilities. But only the U.S. military has the bunker-buster bombs that officials believe offered the best chance of destroying sites deep underground. A total of 14 of the bombs were used on Natanz and Fordo, according to the Pentagon.
Experts scrambled to answer the urgent question: What has happened to Iran’s stockpile of uranium and centrifuges?
Satellite images taken by Planet Labs PBC after the U.S. strikes, analyzed by The Associated Press, show damage to the facility. Other images from Maxar Technologies suggest Iran packed the entrance tunnels to Fordo with dirt and had trucks at the facility ahead of the strikes.
Several Iranian officials, including Atomic Energy Organization of Iran spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi, have claimed Iran removed nuclear material from targeted sites.
Before the Israeli military campaign began, Iran said it had declared a third, unknown site as a new enrichment facility.
“Questions remain as to where Iran may be storing its already enriched stocks … as these will have almost certainly been moved to hardened and undisclosed locations, out of the way of potential Israeli or U.S. strikes,” said Darya Dolzikova, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute focused on nonproliferation issues.
Global leaders responded with shock and calls for restraint. Egypt warned of “grave repercussions” for the region. Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s Middle East-based 5th Fleet, called on Iran and the U.S. to “quickly resume talks.”
The State Department advised U.S. citizens worldwide to “exercise increased caution.”
Trump’s decision and the risks
The decision to attack was a risky one for Trump, who won the White House partly on the promise of keeping America out of costly foreign conflicts.
But Trump also vowed that he would not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon. He initially hoped that the threat of force would bring the country’s leaders to give up its nuclear program.
For Netanyahu, the strikes were the culmination of a decades-long campaign to get the U.S. to strike Israel’s chief regional rival and its disputed nuclear program. Netanyahu praised Trump, saying his decision “will change history.”
Israel is widely believed to be the only Middle Eastern country with nuclear weapons, which it has never acknowledged.
Iran and Israel trade more attacks
Israel’s military chief, Lt. Gen. Eyal Amir, called the U.S. attack a key “turning point” but added: “We still have targets to strike and objectives to complete.”
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it launched a barrage of 40 missiles at Israel, including its Khorramshahr-4, which can carry multiple warheads. Israeli authorities said more than 80 people suffered mostly minor injuries.
Late Sunday, the Israeli military said it again struck military infrastructure sites in Tehran and western Iran.
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.
Earlier, explosions boomed in Bushehr, home to Iran’s only nuclear power plant, three semiofficial media outlets reported. Israel’s military said it struck missile launchers in Bushehr, Isfahan and Ahvaz, as well as a command center in the Yazd area where it said Khorramshahr missiles were stored. Iran has not acknowledged losses of military materiel in the war so far.
Iranian state media reported air defense systems were firing in Tehran early Monday, while explosions could be heard in the nearby city of Karaj.
A social media account associated with Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, published a propaganda post Monday portraying missile strikes on a darkened city with a giant skull bearing the Star of David on it. “The punishment continues,” the poster read.
Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 950 people and wounded 3,450 others, according to the Washington-based group Human Rights Activists. The group said of those dead, it identified 380 civilians and 253 security force personnel. In Israel, at least 24 people have been killed and over 1,000 wounded.
At Turkey’s border with Iran, one departing Iranian defended his country’s nuclear program.
“We were minding our own business,” Behnam Puran said.
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This version corrects that the Strait of Hormuz is between Iran and Oman, not the United Arab Emirates.
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Associated Press writers Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; Nasser Karimi, Mehdi Fattahi and Amir Vahdat in Iran; Aamer Madhani in Morristown, New Jersey; Julia Frankel in Jerusalem; Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel; Lolita Baldor in Narragansett, Rhode Island; Samy Magdy in Cairo; Rusen Takva in Van, Turkey; Joah Boak in Washington; Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed to this story.
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A volunteer firefighter died on Wednesday in Turkey after helping local emergency services tackle a large wildfire in the Mediterranean coastal province of Antalya, an official said.
The fire broke out on Monday in Antalya’s Aksu district and, fanned by strong winds, quickly spread into the neighboring Kepez district, forcing hundreds of residents from their homes. The cause of the wildfire is not known.
Hasan Kahya, an Aksu resident who was helping firefighters tackle the blaze, suffered a heart attack after being affected by the smoke and later died in hospital, the district’s mayor, Isa Yildirim, said.
Two people were hospitalized with burns to their legs on Tuesday, while six others were treated for smoke inhalation. More than 100 dogs were evacuated from an animal shelter in Aksu.
Turkey’s forestry directorate said efforts to bring the blaze under control were continuing on Wednesday, adding that the fire’s intensity had been “reduced.” At least three firefighting planes, nine helicopters, 169 fire extinguishing trucks and more than 1,000 firefighters were deployed, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
Separately, firefighters were also tackling a wildfire in the district of Kozan, in the southern Adana province, where hundreds of residents have been evacuated, the forestry directorate said.
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Firefighters on Tuesday battled a wildfire in Turkey’s Mediterranean coastal province of Antalya that forced hundreds of people from their homes and injured at least two people, the state-run news agency reported.
The fire broke out Monday evening in Antalya’s Aksu district and, fueled by strong winds, quickly spread into the neighboring Kepez district, Anadolu Agency reported.
Two people were hospitalized with injuries to their legs while six others affected by smoke were treated on site, the report said.
Authorities evacuated people from at least 254 homes in Aksu and Kepez and temporarily closed a highway between Antalya and the city of Isparta, located some 130 kilometers (80 miles) north.
As flames and heavy smoke threatened the area, more than 100 dogs were evacuated from an animal shelter in Aksu and taken to safety, Antalya Municipality said. Video footage showed veterinarians treating a dog affected by the smoke.
More than 2,000 homes in the region were affected by power outages, Anadolu reported.
The agency said at least five firefighting aircraft, 10 helicopters, 110 fire extinguishing trucks and 600 personnel were deployed to battle the blaze.
Firefighters were also battling wildfires in the nearby provinces of Adana and Mersin.
BERLIN (AP) — Emma Meesseman led Belgium to the quarterfinals of women’s FIBA World Cup and Puerto Rico finished strongly to eliminate Turkey in their final group games on Monday.
Meesseman had 22 points and 10 rebounds to help Belgium top Australia 80-68 for first place in Group C.
The European champions are now off until Thursday. Australia faces a qualifying playoff on Wednesday against the loser of the Italy-China matchup that takes place later Monday.
Belgium had a five-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, before using a 11-2 run to start the period and gain a double-digit advantage. The Opals couldn’t recover.
The pro-Belgian crowd cheered on their team, waving flags in support.
Puerto Rico celebrates
Arella Guirantes led Puerto Rico with 21 points for a 75-71 win over Turkey.
Puerto Rico was trailing by seven points going into the final quarter, but Imani McGee-Stafford scored and Pamela Rosado followed with two 3-pointers to take a 59-58 lead.
Turkey power forward Elif Bayram went off early in the final quarter with what looked a left leg injury.
Turkey fans outnumbered their counterparts at Berlin’s Max-Schmeling-Halle and they tried to put off Guirantes but couldn’t stop her from securing the win with two free throws.
Puerto Rico next plays the winner between Italy-China on Wednesday.
Assist queen Allemand
Belgium’s Julie Allemand became the all-time women’s FIBA World Cup assist leader in the game. She got the record-breaking assist when Meesseman hit two free throws with 1:58 left in the first half against Australia.
FIBA gives an assist out when a player is fouled and makes the free throws. Allemand passed Laia Palau of Spain, who had 108 assists in her career.
Allemand started the tournament in eighth place all-time with 87, but had 17 assists in her first two games to get within striking distance of the record.
She finished the game with seven assists to give her 111 in World Cup play.
Decisive day
The four group winners progress directly to Thursday’s quarterfinals, while the teams that finish second and third face playoffs Tuesday or Wednesday to determine which join the group winners already through to the final eight. The bottom teams are eliminated.
Host Germany (1-1) faces Mali (1-1), and Spain (1-1) plays Japan (1-1) later with all scenarios open in Group A. Any one of the four teams can win the group and progress to the quarterfinals or finish bottom and be eliminated.
France (2-0), already through to the quarterfinals, plays already eliminated Nigeria (0-2) later, with Hungary and South Korea (both 1-1) contesting second place in Group B.
Italy (1-1), after coming close to upsetting the United States Sunday night, faces China (1-1) to decide second place in Group D. The U.S. (2-0) has already advanced to the quarterfinals before its final group game against the Czech Republic, which was eliminated after two losses.
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See AP’s full WNBA coverage here
BERLIN (AP) — China needed overtime to edge the Czech Republic 74-70 in a thrilling game at the Women’s Basketball World Cup on Sunday.
Han Xu scored 22 points and drew China level at 53-53 in the final quarter after her team had trailed for most of the game.
Eliška Joklová put the Czechs 64-59 up with 27 seconds left only for Luo Xinyu to respond with a 3-pointer and Yang Shuyu to level at 64-64 with 3 seconds to go – after Joklová missed two free throws. There was still time for Joklová to miss another chance to clinch the win.
Yang also completed the scoring in overtime for China, which failed to get the most from 7-foot-3 Zhang Ziyu. The 19-year-old sensation could only score three points in her second game after 13 on her World Cup debut against the United States on Friday.
“She has very great talent and we need to fix how we play together,” Yang said of the teenager’s performance. “Today everybody could see that we did not play so well with her, and we have to fix it.”
China (1-1) next faces Italy on Monday in a game that will likely decide second place in Group D. The Czech Republic (0-2) faces elimination after two losses before its final group game against the United States (2-0).
The U.S. was playing Italy (0-1) later Sunday with Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers bidding to stretch the Americans’ winning run to 32 games. The U.S. hasn’t lost a game at the World Cup since the semifinal game of the 2006 tournament.
Belgium advances
Emma Meesseman completed the scoring as European champion Belgium (2-0) booked its place in the final phase with a comfortable 76-64 win over Puerto Rico (0-2).
Imani McGee-Stafford finished with 25 points for Puerto Rico, which lost against Belgium for the third time at a World Cup.
Maxuella Lisowa Mbaka was top scorer for the Belgians with 16 points, followed by Julie Vanloo with 15. Meesseman finished with 6.
Australia makes it 2 from 2
Ezi Magbegor scored 21 points as Australia reached the final phase with a physical 87-71 win over Turkey earlier.
Turkey, led by Sevgi Uzun with 24 points, was down 8-0 at the start but fought back after a timeout to lead 15-14. That was brief, however, as the Opals rallied to end the first quarter 21-15 up and did not relinquish the lead for the rest of the game.
Turkey’s Goksen Fitik went off with what appeared to be a right-ankle injury in the third quarter but she returned in the fourth.
The Australian team features seven World Cup debutants. Team captain Sami Whitcomb of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury had to withdraw before the tournament with a lingering knee injury.
Australia (2-0) next faces Belgium on Monday for a showdown that will decide which team progresses directly to the quarterfinals as group winner. Australia, after two wins, is already assured of at least a playoff place in the final phase of the competition.
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See AP’s full WNBA coverage here
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece will press ahead with its strategic defense cooperation with Israel but also wants to deepen relations with other states in the Middle East, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Sunday.
Greece-Israeli ties and defense, security and energy cooperation have become increasingly close over the past decade and Mitsotakis enjoys a friendly rapport with his counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu. Shared concerns about Turkey have helped boost ties. The two countries signed a 3-billion-euro ($3.5 billion) deal on Aug. 31 for Israel to build an air defense shield in Greece.
Mitsotakis told reporters in Thessaloniki that Greece is only one of five NATO countries spending at least 3.5% of its GDP on core defense.
Greece’s traditionally high spending has been fueled by almost constant tensions with Turkey, and its questioning of Greek sovereignty over parts of the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean. Greece recognizes only the demarcation of the two countries’ respective maritime zones as an issue to be negotiated or sent to international arbitration.
Asked about U.S. President Donald Trump’s expressed desire to sell the advanced F-35 multirole combat aircraft to Turkey, Mitsotakis replied that he will not tell the U.S. what to do, but noted that legal obstacles remain as Turkey was sanctioned for buying the S-400 air defense system from Russia.
Greece will take delivery of its first 20 F-35s in late 2028, with an option to buy 20 more.
Mitsotakis also said he planned to visit Saudi Arabia soon, and that the recently concluded Mecca Joint Defense Agreement among Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey changes nothing in Greece’s relations with Riyadh.
Greece has maintained an air defense battery in Saudi Arabia since 2021, and has used its Patriot missiles four times since July to down drones and ballistic missiles, allegedly from Yemen, aimed at the kingdom’s oil refineries.
Mitsotakis will visit Cairo on Tuesday for talks with Egyptian President Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi.
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Associated Press writer Costas Kantouris in Thessaloniki, Greece, contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration announced Friday that it has imposed sanctions on a Turkish financial institution as part of its latest effort to sever “critical financial lifelines” for the Iranian government.
The actions against Golden Global Yatirim Bankasi Anonim Sirketi come after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent last week launched “Operation Economic Outcast, ” Washington’s new effort to isolate already heavily sanctioned Iran from its remaining trading partners to try to get it to capitulate to U.S. demands after more than six months of war.
The Treasury Department accused the Turkish bank and its entities of being established to enable Iran’s efforts to transfer oil revenues from China to Turkey, where they could then be converted to cash and gold. It also said the institution “knowingly offered” banking services to Iranian financial entities, including those already sanctioned by the U.S. government in 2022 for funneling Tehran’s oil sales.
Bessent, who had told The Associated Press earlier this week that another bank would face economic penalties, said financial institutions with ties to Iran will “continue to find out the hard way that we are serious about Operation Economic Outcast.”
“While we hope no more banks will need to be sanctioned, that ultimately depends on how quickly the international community comes to its senses and ceases support of the murderous Iranian regime,” he said in a press release Friday. “We know who you are, we know where you are, and we will continue to take action together with our allies and partners until we have buried the head of the Iranian snake.”
But so far, the goal to force those that still do business with Iran to cut off financial ties or face U.S. retaliation has fallen flat, with promises of an “economic D-Day” for a group of countries that could include China and India quickly turning into warnings and negotiations with Iran’s trading partners.
Bessent had previously told reporters that he wanted countries to have an opportunity to shift away from Iran before it was too late in a bid to avoid upending the global financial system.
The Trump administration’s reluctance to penalize major trading partners that still do business with Iran was on display last week when the U.S. took steps to limit an Egyptian bank’s operations in the United Arab Emirates but stopped short of imposing sanctions.
The U.S. also has resumed military strikes in recent days, prompting Iranian retaliation in the region. It’s unclear what the outcome of the two-pronged strategy will be for President Donald Trump, who has struggled to end an unpopular war with an intransigent Iranian government as energy prices rise and pose problems for Republicans before November’s midterm congressional elections.
Targeted in the latest U.S. sanctions is Golden Global Investment Bank, which was founded in 2019 as Turkey’s first investment bank to offer “banking services and alternative financing methods” to foreign companies, according to its website.
The Istanbul-based bank, which is largely unfamiliar to most Turks, says it aims to increase Turkey’s foreign trade through target markets in neighboring countries.
The Treasury announcement came a day after Turkey’s state-run Halkbank declared it had reached a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department in a nine-year case focused on violating sanctions with Iran.
In that case, senior officials at Halkbank were said to have illegally moved about $20 billion worth of Iranian oil revenues. U.S. prosecutors claimed high-ranking Turkish government officials received millions of dollars in bribes to protect the scheme.
The Halkbank case caused a rift in U.S.-Turkey relations, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan personally lobbying the White House to have the case dropped.
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Wilks reported from Istanbul.
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