Tensions heightened Monday overpossible payback by Tehranagainst the U.S. or its allies afterstrikes on three Iranian nuclear facilitiesamid fears that the Mideast conflict could spiral into a wider war. The Israeli military launched strikes on several Iranian cities on Monday. Israel Katz, the Israeli defense minister, said it hit the Evin Prison in Tehran as well as an "internal security headquarters." An Iranian state news agency said Israel struck the Fordow nuclear site, which the U.S. bombed Sunday, though the report could not immediately be verified. Sirens sounded across Israel amid reports of fresh missile launches by Iran. The U.S. remained on alert with its40,000 troopsin the region two days afterPresident Donald Trumpordered the bombing of Fordow, a uranium enrichment facility deep inside a remote mountain in Iran, and facilities at Natanz and Isfahan. Many world leaders− including those from the UK, France and Germany − called for restraint and a return to the diplomatic table.And protesters in some U.S. citiessuch as the nation's capital and New York took to the streets to voice ardent opposition to intervention in Iran. The Department of Homeland Security issued a bulletin warning of a"heightened threat environment"in the U.S. The State Department alsosent out a "worldwide caution security alert"advising U.S. citizens overseas to exercise increased vigilance. The extent of the damageto the Iran nuclear sites remains a question mark since there has so far been no independent assessment. The International Atomic Energy Agency, which is the main agency that assesses Iran's nuclear program, was holdingan emergency meetingMonday. Iranian official Ebrahim Zolfaqari warned that the U.S. should expect severe consequences. "Mr. Trump, the gambler, you may start this war, but we will be the ones to end it," Zolfaqari said in English in a video shared Monday. Concerns also mounted over thepossible closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil and gas route. The Iranian parliament backed a measure to close the strait, but the final decision was up to Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Iranian TV said. Around 20% of theworld's oil and gasflow through the narrow channel connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman. Its closure would likely mean rising fuel costs for global consumers, including Americans. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned against closing the strait, telling CBS in an interview, "That would be a suicidal move on their part, because I think the whole world would come against them if they did that." Russian PresidentVladimir Putinon Monday told Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Moscow that aggression against Iran was groundless. Putin made the comments at the start of Kremlin talks and said Russia, which has condemned the U.S. strikes, was ready to help the Iranian people. U.S. bombing probably caused "very significant" damage to the underground areas of Iran's Fordow uranium enrichment plant, although the extent is unknown, U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said Monday. "Given the explosive payload utilised and the extreme(ly) vibration-sensitive nature of centrifuges, very significant damage is expected to have occurred," Grossi said in a statement to an emergency meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation Board of Governors. Iran and its hard-linesupreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameneiare almost certainly going to strike back in response tohistoric U.S. military strikeson three of its suspected nuclear facilities. But if history is any guide, that response could happen at any time − and anywhere, and in any form, former U.S. intelligence officials and diplomatic experts say. "Missiles, militias and acts of hostage-taking – that's their go-to" range of options, the Biden administration coordinator for the Middle East, Brett McGurk, said on CNN June 21. "I suspect Iran will have to do something."Read more here. −Josh Meyer The U.S. used more than a dozen multimillion-dollar,30,000-pound "bunker busters"tobomb Iranian nuclear facilitiesin the strike, known as Operation Midnight Hammer, marking the weapon's first operational use, according to the Pentagon. U.S. bomber planes dropped 14 of the massive bombs on three of Iran's nuclear facilities, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said. The bombs used in the strikes, calledMassive Ordnance Penetrators, or MOPs, weigh 30,000 pounds each and cost millions to produce. MOPs, also known as the Guided Bomb Unit, or GBU-57, areGPS-guided weapons designedto burrow deep into underground targets, such as fortified tunnels or bunkers. The bombs are about 20 feet long and span 6 feet at their widest point.Read more here. − Cybele Mayes-Osterman Some lawmakers, including hard-line conservatives and key progressives, are calling the U.S. strikesa breach of the Constitution,. "The President's disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York,posted on X. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, responded to Trump's social media assessment of the attack withthe statement: "This is not Constitutional." TheWar Powers Resolutionof 1973 requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of military action. The law also limits the deployment of armed forces beyond 90 days in the absence of a formal declaration of war. − Savannah Kuchar Trump ordered the strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, effectively joining a war that Israel started on June 13 when it began bombing Iranian nuclear and military infrastructure. Israel said it helped the U.S. coordinate and plan the strikes. Trump said all three sites were "totally obliterated." But an independent assessment has not yet been carried out. The International Atomic Energy Agency − the United Nation's nuclear watchdog − released a statement saying that so far it had not detected an increase in "off-site radiation levels," one of the feared consequences of the strikes. Vice PresidentJD Vanceinsisted Sunday that the U.S. is not entering an open-ended conflict in the Middle East. "We're not at war with Iran. We're at war with Iran's nuclear program." Vance said on NBC. Contributing: Reuters This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Iran-US live updates: What is Iran's next move after US bombing?
