On June 22, 2025, Professor Ding Long of the Middle East Studies Institute at Shanghai International Studies University was interviewed by Global Times on U.S. Attack on Iranian Nuclear Facilities, the full text of which is below:
China condemns US attacks on 3 nuclear sites in Iran
US President Donald Trump declared in a social media post on Saturday US local time that the US had completed very successful attacks on three nuclear sites in Iran, Fordow, Natanz and Esfahan, with Fordow being widely seen as the crown jewel of Tehran's nuclear program.
According to media reports, the US Air Force's B-2 Spirit stealth bombers were involved in the strikes. Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi warned of retaliation on X, saying that the events this morning are outrageous and will have everlasting consequences.
In accordance with the UN Charter and its provisions allowing a legitimate response in self-defense, Iran reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest, and people, Araghchi wrote in the post.
Chinese analysts approached by the Global Times on Sunday said the US' attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities are unlikely to quickly end the conflict. The conflict will further spill over, potentially leading to greater turmoil in the Middle East and moving further away from the day of peace, they warned.
In a speech on Saturday evening US local time, Trump defended Washington's move by clarifying that the objective was destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat, and claimed that Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated, according to a full text of the speech provided by Al Jazeera.
The US president said Iran must now make peace, or future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier.
The complex and high-risk mission was carried out primarily by seven B-2 stealth bombers, according to the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine. Caine disclosed at a Pentagon briefing on US local time Sunday morning that a total of 14 bunker-busters were dropped in the attacks on Iranian nuclear sites.
However, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) in a statement after the attacks, assured the Iranian nation that despite the evil conspiracies of its enemies, with the efforts of thousands of its revolutionary and motivated scientists and experts, it will not allow the path of development of this national industry to be stopped.
Although Trump suggested in a Social Truth post that Fordow is gone, Mahdi Mohammadi, an adviser to Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said that Iran had moved its nuclear infrastructure from Fordow in anticipation of an attack. The site has long been evacuated and has not suffered any irreversible damage in the attack, Mohammadi wrote in a social media post, Al Jazeera reported.
Iranian and Saudi nuclear regulatory authorities also confirmed on Sunday that no radioactive contamination has been detected following US airstrikes targeting three key nuclear facilities in Iran, amid growing international concern over potential environmental consequences, regional media outlet Kurdistan24 reported.
Li Zixin, an assistant research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times that the true effectiveness of the operation on three nuclear sites in Iran remains unclear, and that the strikes may not have been sufficient to completely destroy Iran's underground nuclear facilities.
Global voices
China strongly condemns the US attacks on Iran and bombing of nuclear facilities under the safeguards of the IAEA, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Sunday, when responding to a question on US President Donald Trump's announcement that strikes have been carried out on Iran's nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.
The actions of the US seriously violate the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and international law, and have exacerbated tensions in the Middle East. China calls on the parties to the conflict, Israel in particular, to reach a ceasefire as soon as possible, ensure the safety of civilians, and start dialogue and negotiation. China stands ready to work with the international community to pool efforts together and uphold justice, and work for restoring peace and stability in the Middle East, the spokesperson said.
Following the attack on the three nuclear sites in Iran, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed grave alarm by US' use of force against Iran on Saturday. This is a dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge - and a direct threat to international peace and security, per UN statement.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that it strongly condemns the US attacks on Iran's nuclear sites, Reuters reported. The irresponsible decision to subject the territory of a sovereign state to missile and bomb attacks, whatever the arguments it may be presented with, flagrantly violates international law, the Charter of the United Nations and the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, the ministry said in its statement.
Saudi Arabia issued a statement on Sunday expressing deep concern with the developments in Iran. The kingdom underscores the need to exert all efforts to exercise restraint, de-escalate, and avoid escalation, the statement said.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel also strongly condemned the US bombing, saying it constituted a dangerous escalation and a serious violation of the UN Charter. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil in a Telegram post also condemned US' action and demanded an immediate cessation of hostilities, Al Jazeera reported.
Besides, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called on the parties involved to return to the negotiating table and prevent further escalation.
The head of UN's nuclear watchdog, Rafael Mariano Grossi, posted on X that given the US intervention in the Israel-Iran war, he will be convening an emergency meeting of the Board of Governors on Monday, AP reported.
Araghchi said on Sunday afternoon in an X post that last week, we were in negotiations with the US when Israel decided to blow up that diplomacy. This week, we held talks with the E3/EU when the US decided to blow up that diplomacy.
The Iranian foreign minister questioned that What conclusion would you draw? To Britain and the EU High Rep, it is Iran which must return to the table. But how can Iran return to something it never left, let alone blew up?
Retaliation still underway
Hours after the US attacked Iran's nuclear facilities, Israel's military said Iran had fired a fresh wave of missiles toward the country, the first since the US announced it had attacked Iran's nuclear facilities, according to a statement by Israel Defense Forces, CNN reported.
Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it launched 40 missiles, including its advanced Khorramshahr-4 missile, during the attack on Israel on Sunday morning, AP News reported.
The Khorramshahr-4 has the heaviest payload of Iran's ballistic missile fleet, which analysts say may be designed to keep the weapon under a 2,000-kilometer range limit imposed by the country's supreme leader, according to AP report.
Abbas Golroo, head of the parliament foreign policy committee, said Iran has the legal right to withdraw from the nuclear Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons - based on its Article 10, Al Jazeera reported.
Article 10 states that an NPT member has the right to withdraw from the Treaty if it decides that extraordinary events have jeopardized the supreme interests of its country.
Iran's parliament voted to approve the closure of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state media reported Sunday. The decision still requires approval from the Islamic Republic's Supreme National Security Council, France 24 reported.
Explosions were heard in Iran's southwest city of Bushehr Sunday, Iranian state-affiliated media said without indicating the exact location of the blasts.
The news outlets said Israel had struck the area. Bushehr is home to Iran's only functioning nuclear power plant, and the port city is close to a number of capital cities in the Gulf region, located around the Persian Gulf sea.
Rafael Grossi, the director of the International Agency for Atomic Energy, warned last week that a direct attack on the Bushehr nuclear plant would result in a very high release of radioactivity, which would affect people within hundreds of kilometers of the plant.
Peace further away
A Reuters report on Sunday said the dramatic US strike, including the targeting of Iran's most heavily fortified nuclear installation deep underground, marks the biggest foreign policy gamble of Trump's two presidencies and one fraught with risks and unknowns.
Trump, who insisted on Saturday that Iran must now make peace or face further attacks, could provoke Tehran into retaliating by closing the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important oil artery, attacking US military bases and allies in the Middle East, stepping up its missile barrage on Israel and activating proxy groups against American and Israeli interests worldwide, analysts told the Reuters report.
Zou Zhiqiang, a research fellow at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times on Sunday that although the US has attacked Iran's nuclear facilities, the outcome will not be as Washington hopes. Iran will not easily yield, and the conflict will not easily end.
It is easy to start a war but difficult to end one, the expert noted, adding that the US may want a quick strike and a swift withdrawal, but the confrontation between the two sides is likely to continue.
The US reached out to Iran diplomatically Saturday to say the strikes are all the US plans and that regime change efforts are not planned, the sources said, CBS News reported.
Regarding how Iran might respond to the US strikes, Zou said Iran now faces a major decision, and the US military bases in Iraq could be the first targets. However, the situation is still unfolding.
The risk of spillover from the current situation in the Middle East is rising, with serious consequences, as the security situation in the region face the risk of losing control, said Ding Long, professor of the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University. If Iran's nuclear sites are destroyed, all retaliation options - including attacks on US interests and control of the Strait of Hormuz - are possible, Ding Long added. Reprisals by Iran and its supporters against the US and Israel will further escalate the situation in the Middle East, and the security of the Middle East will face threats in many aspects, including maritime shipping security.
Yemen's Houthi group said in a statement on Saturday that it would target US ships if Washington attacks Iran.
If America is involved in the attack and aggression against Iran ... the armed forces (Houthi forces) will target its ships and battleships in the Red Sea, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in the statement, aired by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.
Ding added that the US bombing marks a serious escalation and disrupts hopes for a peaceful resolution. Iran is likely to retaliate, and US interests in the region may suffer, he said.
Source: Global Times
(The views expressed in this article are the personal views of the author or the interviewee, and do not represent the position of this research institution)
