The joint attack by the United States and Israel on Iran and subsequent offensives has so far left more than 550 dead, according to estimates by the Iranian Red Crescent. The waves of bombings have been happening since this weekend and have caused a strong shock in the Middle East.
While Europe and other actors evaluate the position, the conflict advances and points to an escalation that will last over time, as Donald Trump himself has stated. The American president considers that the military operation could last four or five weeks and justifies the country’s action in “annihilating” a regime that posed a “threat” to the United States.
Does Iran have nuclear bombs?
Iran is part of the UN Nuclear Non-Profiling Treaty (NPT), with which it committed not to develop a nuclear bomb, although suspicions about its construction have always been increasing in recent years.
It has no known nuclear bombs, but its actions regarding uranium enrichment levels and the various Intelligence reports, as well as the surveillance work of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), cast certain doubts about Iran’s intentions.
Tension increased in June 2025 when the IAEA declared that Iran was in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in two decades, despite the Iranian government insisting that its nuclear activities were limited to civilian purposes. That motivated Israel’s attacks and the so-called 12-day war.
Trump’s ‘excuse’ for attacking Iran
These arguments, regardless of the tense relationship between the two countries, have been used by Donald Trump to justify the attack on Iran. “We are going to destroy their missiles and bury their missile industry,” explained Trump, who stressed that it is about “annihilating” and “destroying” the ayatollah regime for its threat to the US at the “core of national security interest.”
Regarding the bomb, Trump made it clear that the US’s intention is to ensure that Iran “does not obtain a nuclear weapon”: “They have tried to rebuild their nuclear program and continue developing their long-range missiles that can now threaten our good friends and allies in Europe, our troops abroad and very soon the United States.”
At the moment, only five countries are allowed to possess nuclear technology, those countries being the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia and China.
