B-2 bombers drove Iran and Israel into ‘forever’ truce, Trump says

I still carry its smell of damp concrete and stale fear. I dream of bulldozers flattening the walls and children playing where the interrogation rooms once were. But bombs are not bulldozers, and a missile strike is not a promise of renewal.

I picture a June afternoon. The heat in Tehran is already unbearable when the siren splits the air.

Inside Evin’s women’s ward, glass gives way with a sharp, accusing crack. Shards slice arms and cheeks before anyone even understands what happened. Outside, the scene is worse: mothers, fathers, siblings—mine among them—stand at that kiosk manned by a teenage conscript teenager who despises his post as much as we despise the regime.

In a single flash, they all disappear.

This is every visiting day at Evin: desperate faces pressing for scraps of news, hoping for a glimpse, a rumor, a promise. Now the asphalt is scorched, the kiosk mangled.

How, exactly, does bombing a prison free a nation?

Ruins attract new bosses, not playgrounds. That is not the future we fought for when we risked everything to challenge the regime.

These are strange times—to say the least.

Friends and family members are turning against one another. Geography is becoming a dividing line.

Concerned, broadly well-meaning Iranians watching from London or LA are far more likely to cheer. They don’t hear the explosions rattling our walls. They don’t see the plumes or the pale, crumpled faces—our neighbors, our parents, our children—shaking in silence.

I try not to block those who infuriate me with their aloofness, their crass humor. They’re a product of the Islamic Republic too—desensitized by a daily flood of suffering from Kyiv to Gaza, stripped of empathy by proximity to too much pain.

I try not to block them because we need each other, as many as we can, if we’re to survive this and not fall into the abyss.

I am exhausted, furious, with this regime as anyone. I despise the system that robbed me of my life with empty slogans, the man who telegraphs defiance from a bunker under my city.

But this is not deliverance.

Once we were never asked whether we wanted uranium enrichment in exchange for our aspirations. Now no one asks whether we want Netanyahu’s jets overhead or police compounds in downtown Tehran pulverized.

I shed no tears for slain IRGC generals—courtrooms would have been better—but I do mourn our own powerlessness, trapped between rulers who do not care and outsiders who use our suffering as a talking point.

Spare us the righteous speeches please. Pursue your interests if you must, but don’t pretend the collateral is a gift to the Iranian people.

A true leader would have stepped aside long ago to spare us this spiral. Instead, Khamenei hides underground while we—prisoners in and outside Evin—keep counting the costs.

I am typing this having passed by a crater’s dust on my way home. I’m not sure who will read this. But it’s the only thing I can do between mourning the lives blasted away and fearing the new bars that will rise where the old ones fell.

The ongoing war began on June 13 with waves of Israeli airstrikes across Iran.

“Hundreds of civilians, including women and children, have been killed in the Israeli airstrikes and millions have fled major cities for fear of further attacks,” the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Iran and the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran said in an online statement, describing the Iranian population as “traumatized.”

Israel says it is targeting military objectives. However, UN experts say some of Israel’s actions appear to violate the principle of distinction under international humanitarian law, including the strike on Iran’s state broadcaster (IRIB), and the targeted killing of scientists.

At least 950 people have been killed and 3,450 injured in Israeli strikes across Iran, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). The dead include 380 civilians, 253 military personnel, and 317 individuals of unknown status. Israeli attacks have hit 25 provinces, damaging homes, hospitals, and critical infrastructure.

Lack of 'effective' advance warning

The UN Human Rights Council’s Fact-Finding Mission and the Special Rapporteur on Iran have also raised concerns. Among those reported killed were residents of an apartment complex, three aid workers from the Iranian Red Crescent, and patients at a hospital in Kermanshah, according to the report. Other sites struck include a clinic for children with autism.

The UN said a lack of effective advance warning may have prevented civilians from reaching safety, raising concerns over compliance with the principles of proportionality, distinction, and precaution.

Airstrikes and evacuation orders have triggered mass displacement in Iran, with millions leaving Tehran. Limited access to shelters, fuel shortages, and disruption of essential services have increased civilian vulnerability.

Iranian counterstrikes have caused casualties and damage in Israel, with at least 24 killed and 1,217 injured, according to authorities. One missile struck a hospital in southern Israel, injuring staff and patients and forcing evacuations. Other strikes hit residential areas, prompting sirens across the country.

While many projectiles were intercepted, some got through, causing fires, power outages, and structural damage.

Internet blackout

On June 18, Iran’s Ministry of Communications imposed widespread internet restrictions, further complicating efforts by civilians to coordinate evacuations or contact family. The UN says this digital blackout has made it more difficult to assess the full scale of the humanitarian impact.

UN experts have also noted reports of arbitrary arrests of journalists, activists, social media users, and Afghan nationals accused of espionage. At least two people have reportedly been executed, and Iranian authorities have announced expedited trials, raising concerns overdue process.

Target: Evin Prison

One of the sites hit in Tehran on Monday was Evin Prison, which houses political prisoners and human rights activists, among other inmates. Iran’s judiciary said the strike damaged parts of the facility. State television broadcast footage of emergency responders carrying casualties and searching through rubble.

Israel’s defense minister said the military struck “regime targets and agencies of government repression,” including Evin.

Amnesty International condemned the attack, calling it a potential war crime, and urged Iranian authorities to release those arbitrarily detained and relocate others away from sites at risk of future strikes. The group also warned against the use of force by prison officials in response to unrest among detainees.

The UN called on Iranian authorities to relocate prisoners held near potential strike sites and urged all parties to respect international humanitarian law.

“The escalating hostilities pose grave risks to civilians across the region,” the Fact-Finding Mission and Special Rapporteur said, “with ordinary families and communities bearing the brunt of a conflict that threatens their safety, livelihoods, and daily lives.”

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  Israeli strikes kill several guards and officials at Tehran’s Evin prison

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  Israel hits Evin Prison, key security institutions in Tehran on 11th day of war

Missiles were fired at the base as part of what Iran's state television is calling “Operation Herald of Victory".

Qatari air defense systems intercepted the Iranian missile attack, Al Jazeera reported, citing the Qatari defense ministry.

Doha condemned the Iranian airstrikes against US forces in Al Udeid, saying it reserves the right to respond directly and in accordance with international law.

It also confirmed that the attack resulted in no fatalities.

The US president is at the White House Situation Room, discussing a possible response to the Iranian attack, according to CNBC.

According to the New York Times and Reuters, Iran had coordinated the attack with Qatari officials and the United States in advance and gave early notice to help minimize casualties.

In a statement, Iran's Supreme National Security Council gave Doha an assurance that the targeted US base was located far from residential areas and posed no danger to “the brotherly and friendly country of Qatar and its people.”

Tehran emphasized that it remains committed to maintaining its “warm ties with Qatar.”

The situation remains fluid as US officials assess the damage and prepare for possible further retaliation. Al Udeid is the largest US military base in the Middle East, hosting thousands of American personnel and serving as a strategic hub for regional operations.

Their assessments come as Iran threatens retaliation, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) holds an emergency meeting on Monday in response to the escalating crisis.

“For most facilities the impact of direct strikes will, to a large extent, most likely be very localized,” said Dr. Kathryn Higley, distinguished professor of nuclear science and engineering at Oregon State University and president of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements told Iran International.

“While enriched uranium is radioactive, it is not terribly so. If the uranium is present and released as hexafluoride, that could also pose a serious but still localized hazard due to the fluorine in the compound being reactive," she said.

Dr. David Albright, founder of the Institute for Science and International Security, told Iran International that concerns over radiation from a strike on Fordow are overblown when compared with past incidents.

“One way to understand the low radiological risk of bombing Fordow is from a comparison to the underground Natanz enrichment site with over 15,000 centrifuges and many tons of uranium,” he said.

“It was attacked with earth penetrators and there is no off-site radiation risk. Fordow has about 2,700 centrifuges and much less uranium, and is more deeply buried underground. Hard to expect worse than Natanz.”

Albright emphasized that the design and location of Iran’s underground enrichment sites inherently limit the spread of radioactive.

Temporary contamination risks are primarily limited to areas near uranium conversion and enrichment plants, according to Andrea Stricker, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD).

“Response teams going near the destroyed facilities, for example, would need to wear protective gear temporarily due to risks of inhaling or ingesting aerially dispersed uranium chemical compounds,” said Stricker. “There is not concern for dispersal beyond the immediate plants.”

The US strike on the heavily fortified Fordow facility has likely trapped radioactive material underground, limiting any broader hazard, Stricker said.

Iran's response: 'no signs of contamination'

Their comments follow US President Donald Trump’s announcement on Sunday that American forces had struck Iran’s Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz nuclear sites, which he described as “completely and fully obliterated.”

While Iran confirmed the strikes, it insisted its nuclear program would continue undeterred.

Iran’s National Nuclear Safety System reported that radiation detectors at the affected facilities showed “no signs of contamination” and stated, “There is no danger to the residents living around the aforementioned sites," according to Iran State media.

The IAEA said it had observed “no increase in off-site radiation levels” and would continue monitoring the situation.

Director General Rafael Grossi announced an emergency meeting of the agency’s 35-member board of governors. In response, Iran’s nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami called for an investigation and accused Grossi of “inaction and complicity.”

Isfahan and Natanz—both previously targeted by Israeli airstrikes—have not shown any evidence of radiation release, according to IAEA monitoring.

Experts say Bushehr not likely to be targeted

Bushehr, Iran’s only operational nuclear power reactor, is not expected to be targeted.

“Israel will not have the Bushehr nuclear power plant on its target list, as striking the reactor would cause a radiological disaster in the region,” Stricker said.

Bushehr is used for civilian energy production, not enrichment. The plutonium it generates is not suitable for nuclear weapons, and spent fuel is required to be returned to Russia.

Still, the plant contains significant quantities of nuclear material, and Grossi has warned that an attack on Bushehr could have the most serious radiological consequences of any site in Iran.

Tehran continues to maintain that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but Trump and Israeli officials argue Iran is moving dangerously close to weapons capability.

“There will either be peace," Trump said during a national address following the strikes, "or there will be tragedy for Iran."

Over the weekend, US forces carried out unprecedented airstrikes targeting Iran’s Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear facilities. B-2 stealth bombers and Tomahawk cruise missiles were used in a mission that involved more than 120 aircraft—making it one of the largest US military operations against the Islamic Republic in decades.

“This marks a dramatic and consequential shift in the region’s strategic balance,” said Dr. Eric Mandel, founder of the Middle East Political Information Network (MEPIN), a think tank focused on US foreign policy and national security in the Middle East. But he warned military strikes alone were not a strategy for lon-term success.

Mandel emphasized that lasting success depends on political vision, regional coordination, and tangible support for the Iranian people—including support for dissident networks, and a clear set of US conditions for any future negotiations.

The removal of nuclear capabilities from “the world’s most dangerous regime” makes the world safer, argued Jonathan Harounoff, spokesperson for Israel’s Mission to the United Nations and author of Unveiled: Inside Iran’s #WomanLifeFreedom Revolt.

'Rare opportunity' for change

Harounoff, whose family is of Iranian origin, said the Iranian people “deserve a government that cares more about their social and economic wellbeing and safety than in pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into constructing a dangerous foreign policy, a destructive nuclear program and a web of terror proxies across the Middle East.”

“The door has been opened to make sure Iran cannot continue its pursuit of nuclear weapons,” said former US Ambassador John Craig, who was part of the Carter administration’s mission to assess the Shah’s position just prior to the 1979 revolution. While it’s too early to predict long-term outcomes, Craig said Iran’s leadership is now under enormous pressure to either return to negotiations or risk further escalation.

“Iran is in a very, very bad place. The leadership has very few options,” said Craig.

Craig added that internal discontent is growing—but warned that the international community must consider who can credibly lead a push for regime change from within. “Time for the mullahs to go,” he said. “But who leads the way is the real question.”

Experts agree that Israel’s initial strikes—combined with US firepower—shattered the Islamic Republic’s sense of impunity. But they caution that without a coherent American strategy, this moment could be lost.

Unless the United States now moves with strategic clarity—disrupting Iran’s centers of power and actively supporting the Iranian people—this rare opportunity for meaningful change could slip away, Mandel warned.