World Capitals React to US Bombing of Iranian Nuclear Facilities

New Delhi: World capitals are reacting to the US's bombing of key Iranian nuclear facilities, with Russia, China and a number of West Asian powers condemning American involvement, and the UK and the EU calling on Iran to negotiate a deal over its nuclear programme.

After the US struck the three nuclear enrichment sites of Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan in Iran amid the latter's military conflict with Israel, President Donald Trump said the “nuclear threat” posed by Iran had to be stemmed and that Tehran now faced a choice between peace and “tragedy”.

Calling the US strikes “outrageous”, Iran's foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said that Washington had violated the UN charter and that Tehran's response will entail “everlasting consequences”.

“Each and every member of the UN must be alarmed over this extremely dangerous, lawless and criminal behaviour,” he said, reserving Iran's right to defend itself under the UN charter.

Araghchi also responded to calls for Tehran to continue participating in negotiations over its nuclear programme, asking how Iran could “return to something it never left”.

“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. 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?” he wrote.

Araghchi also said the American attack was a “grave violation” of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which seeks to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and which gives party countries – among which are Iran – parties have an “inalienable right” to “develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes”. However, Tehran and Washington disagree over whether this right includes the right to enrich uranium.

The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Agency also accused the UN-linked International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) watchdog of inaction and complicity with Israel and the US's strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.

“It is necessary to immediately put an end to this inaction, while condemning these violations of international law by the United States and the Zionist regime [and] fulfill your statutory duties,” Mohammad Eslami said in a statement.

He also accused the IAEA board of governors of being “under the direction, influence and support of the E3 [the UK, France and Germany], the United States and the Zionist regime”.

Meanwhile, the IAEA's director general has announced an emergency meeting of its board of governors on Monday morning.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he had spoken with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian over the phone and expressed his “deep concern” over the “recent escalations”.

Over the call, in which the two leaders “discussed in detail about the current situation”, Modi reiterated India's call for “immediate de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy as the way forward” as well as the early return of peace and stability to the region, he wrote on X.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was “gravely alarmed by the use of force by the United States against Iran”, which he said was a “dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge”.

“There is a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control – with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region and the world,” said Guterres, adding that the only solution to the conflict involves diplomacy and not military action.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said “Iran must never acquire the bomb”, showing agreement with Washington and Tel Aviv, which have claimed that Tehran was on the cusp of obtaining a nuclear weapon. 

Von der Leyen also suggested that the onus was on Tehran to negotiate its nuclear programme, saying that “now is the moment for Iran to engage in a credible diplomatic solution” and that the “negotiating table is the only place to end this crisis”.

She also said however that “respect for international law is critical” and that “stability must be the priority” in an increasingly tense West Asia.

Kaja Kallas, the EU's high representative for foreign affairs, said Iran “must not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon” in the interests of “international security”.

“I urge all sides to step back, return to the negotiating table and prevent further escalation,” she said, adding that the EU's foreign ministers would meet on Monday.

Kallas, whose statement did not condemn the US's bombing of Iranian enrichment facilities or express concern over it, was part of talks that EU foreign ministers held with Araghchi a day prior.

Striking a slightly different note, European Council president Antonio Costa said diplomacy is the “only way to bring peace and security to the Middle East region” and called on “all parties to show restraint and respect for international law and nuclear safety”.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also said Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons and that “the US has taken action to alleviate” the “threat” represented by such a programme.

“We call on Iran to return to the negotiating table and reach a diplomatic solution to end this crisis,” he added.

France said it noted the American strikes “with concern”. Urging restraint, it also said it has “repeatedly expressed its firm opposition to Iran gaining access to nuclear weapons”.

The country is “convinced that a lasting solution to this issue requires a negotiated solution within the framework” of the NPT, a statement by the French foreign ministry added.

Moscow, which had earlier cautioned the US against striking Iran, said that Sunday's bombing was “irresponsible”, in violation of international law and dealt “enormous damage” to the “credibility of the NPT and the IAEA verification and monitoring system based on it”.

“… It is already obvious that a dangerous escalation has begun, fraught with further undermining of regional and global security,” it said.

It added that it “expect[s] a prompt, professional and honest response” from the IAEA.

Araghchi said after the US strikes that he will travel to Moscow on Sunday and meet Russian President Vladimir Putin the next day for talks.

China also condemned the strikes and called on the parties of the conflict, “especially Israel”, to “cease fire as soon as possible”.

“This move by the US side seriously violates the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and international law, and aggravates tensions in the Middle East,” China's foreign ministry spokesperson said on Sunday.

In West Asia, Qatar, which had facilitated a ceasefire between Israel and Iran ally Hamas earlier this year, said it was following the situation with “grave concern” and that there was “an urgent need to halt all military operations” as well as for a return to dialogue and diplomacy. It did not name the US in its statement.

Saudi Arabia, a traditional regional rival of Iran, reaffirmed its statement from last week – when Israel initiated the conflict by conducting strikes on Iran – ‘condemning and denouncing’ the “violation” of Tehran's sovereignty. It also called for restraint and for the international community to “intensify its efforts … to reach a political solution that would bring an end to this crisis”.

Oman was more openly critical, with a spokesperson of its foreign ministry ‘deploring’ the “illegal aggression” by the US, which they said “threaten[s] to expand the scope of the [Iran-Israel] conflict” and amounts to a violation of the UN charter.

Pakistan, which called for Trump to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for supposedly halting the four-day-long Indo-Pakistani conflict last month, condemned the US strikes and said they violated “all norms of international law”.

This article was updated with more reactions.

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