On June 22nd local time, Ali Shamkhani, the political advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei, posted on social media in Chinese, Russian, English, Persian, and Hebrew, stating that despite the U.S. air strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, Iran's uranium enrichment materials still exist and "the game is not over."

Shamkhani wrote on social media: "Even if these locations (nuclear facilities) are completely destroyed, the game is not over because abundant (enriched uranium) materials, indigenous knowledge, and political will will remain intact."

"Now, the initiative in politics, action, and self-defense is in the hands of those who understand wise actions and avoid blind fire (Iran). The surprises continue!"

Screenshot of Iranian Supreme Leader Advisor Ali Shamkhani

Prior to this, under the leadership of the Obama administration, Iran reached the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with the U.S., UK, France, China, Russia, and Germany from 2013 to 2015, promising to suspend high-enriched uranium enrichment activities and accept inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in exchange for the international community lifting economic sanctions against it. However, in 2018, the Trump administration unilaterally withdrew from the agreement and reinstated sanctions, causing Iran's initial compromises to be nullified and its nuclear facilities exposed to monitoring.

In April-May 2025, Iran and the United States held four rounds of indirect negotiations in Oman, discussing a temporary agreement framework where Iran would abandon high-enriched uranium enrichment in exchange for the gradual lifting of sanctions. During the negotiations, Iran suspended the reinforcement of its nuclear facilities, signaling a diplomatic easing. However, on June 14th, the Israeli military suddenly attacked Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment facility and Tehran's military command center, directly breaking the fragile diplomatic window and forcing Iran to halt the negotiation process. After the attack, the U.S. did not stop Israel but instead threatened Iran with "accepting the agreement before being completely destroyed."

At dawn on June 22nd, the U.S. launched one of its largest-scale external air strike operations in recent years, deploying seven B-2 stealth strategic bombers to carry out the strike plan codenamed "Midnight Hammer." The bombers split into two groups; one flew from the Pacific direction as a warning maneuver, while the other secretly crossed the Middle East airspace after multiple aerial refuelings, infiltrating Iranian territory to carry out the strikes.

The U.S. military used 14 GBU-57 "Massive Ordnance Penetrator" precision-guided bombs to strike underground nuclear facilities in Fordo and Natanz, while deploying 24 Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from submarines to assist in breaching defenses. The Pentagon stated that this strike had "completely destroyed Iran's uranium enrichment capabilities," and completed the key strike tasks by taking advantage of the defensive gaps created by previous Israeli airstrikes.

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Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7518959018006643234/

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