Overview

• The US launched Operation Midnight Hammer on June 21, deploying 14 bunker-buster bombs from B-2 bombers and Tomahawks against Iran’s Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan sites, leaving visible craters but unclear underground damage.
• Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and government officials have exchanged missile and airstrikes with Israel and pledged serious retaliatory operations after parliament backed a measure to potentially close the Strait of Hormuz.
• IAEA Director Rafael Grossi and Pentagon leaders caution that a full assessment of the damage to Iran’s nuclear program will take time despite satellite imagery showing significant surface impacts.
• Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Dan Caine confirmed enhanced force protection for US troops across the region, including in Iraq and Syria, while the Department of Homeland Security warned of a heightened threat environment at home.
• Oil prices jumped and the UN Security Council, along with leaders from Europe to the Gulf, has called for restraint and a prompt return to diplomatic channels to prevent wider instability.