US warns: Iranian retaliation would be ‘worst mistake ever made,’ closing Hormuz Straits is ‘economic suicide’

The morning after the U.S. Air Force struck three nuclear sites in Iran, several Trump administration officials gave a flurry of media interviews, offering the regime a chance to return to negotiations while issuing sharp warnings against any retaliation on U.S. targets.

Responding with an attack on U.S. troops would be “the worst mistake they’ve ever made,” Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio, said on the Fox News program, “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.”

He particularly warned Iran against closing the Straits of Hormuz, one of the world’s busiest waterways and a conduit for approximately 20% of the world’s oil supplies.

Closing the straits, as Iran’s parliament has demanded, would be “economic suicide” for the regime, Rubio said.

.@SecRubio: "Why does Hamas exist? Because of Iran... Who built the IEDs that maimed and killed American soldiers in Iraq? Iran. They're behind every problem in this region... Imagine those people having a nuclear weapon... That is unacceptable." pic.twitter.com/bgmt6erQKf
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 22, 2025

Such a move would “hurt other countries’ economies a lot worse than ours,” and be a “massive escalation” that would merit a response “not just by us but by others,” Rubio continued.

“What happens next depends on what they do; If they want to negotiate, we’re ready,” he stressed. However, if they wanted to get 'cute,' we have responses available that are devastating.”

He reiterated that despite the “fake negotiations” ahead of the strikes, the U.S. continues to be open for diplomacy, stressing that regime change is “not the goal” of the administration.

“I think the world today is safer and more stable than it was 24 hours ago,” he concluded.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance was asked by NBC News whether Washington would support an Israeli assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. “Well look, that's up to the Israelis. But we don't want a regime change,” Vance responded.

.@VP: "We do not want war with Iran. We actually want peace, but we want peace in the context of them not having a nuclear weapons program — and that's exactly what the President accomplished last night." pic.twitter.com/qV1Kp64Qfr
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 22, 2025

“We do not want war with Iran. We actually want peace, but we want peace in the context of them not having a nuclear weapons program – and that's exactly what the President accomplished last night.”

Ahead of the strikes, Vance was reportedly among those in the administration advocating for restraint. The vice president said he believes Iran’s nuclear program has been set back “many years.”

Vance said he is “very confident that we’ve substantially delayed [Iran’s] development of a nuclear weapon,” stressing that “it was our intelligence that motivated us to act.”

He acknowledged there was “an open question about whether they were weeks away or whether they were months away… they were way too close to a nuclear weapon for the comfort of the president of the United States, which is why he chose this action.”

Looks like the whole south west side of the mountain range is covered in residue from the blast. https://t.co/u9J5gCmmhk pic.twitter.com/Yso3LoOdTD
— Aurora Intel (@AuroraIntel) June 22, 2025

Earlier on Sunday morning local time, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, gave a short presentation about the details of operation “Midnight Hammer” to the press.

Caine stated that all three attacked sites – Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan – had sustained “severe damage and destruction,” but cautioned that a final determination of whether Iran retained some nuclear capability was still forthcoming.

. @thejointstaff “Initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction.” pic.twitter.com/wcsmuUQT0A
— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) June 22, 2025

According to The New York Times, security officials in Israel have also not reached final conclusions regarding the extent of the damage, The first publicly available satellite images showed six entry holes likely punched by the bombs and possible debris strewn about part of the sites – but no major structural damage on the surface.

The first publicly available satellite images revealed six entry holes, likely caused by bombs and possible debris scattered across parts of the sites – but showed no significant structural damage on the surface.

.@SecDef: "This mission was not and has not been about regime change. The President authorized a precision operation to neutralize the threats to our national interests posed by the Iranian nuclear program." pic.twitter.com/azeeGBm4wZ
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 22, 2025

Bunker-buster bombs are meant to punch through hardened defenses to detonate underground, often without leaving obvious surface damage.

A senior U.S. official said the U.S. strike had at least taken Fordow “off the table” without completely destroying it.

Overall, “approximately 75 precision-guided munitions” were used during the operation, Caine reported.

The two underground sites in Fordow and Isfahan were hit by a strike package led by seven B-2 bombers that took off from their home base in Missouri and headed east, while another pack of B-2s headed west as a diversion.

The B-2 dropped a dozen of the U.S. GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator bunker buster bombs on Fordow, and another two on Natanz. Meanwhile, some 30 Tomahawk cruise missiles were reportedly fired from submarines at Natanz and Isfahan.

Caine praised the “highly classified mission with very few people in Washington knowing the details of the plan.”

🚨 Just WOW...

Pete Hegseth: "Iran is calculating the reality that planes flew from the middle of America in MISSOURI over night, completely undetected, over 3 of their most highly sensitive sites. And we were able to destroy nuclear capabilities, and our boys in those bombers… pic.twitter.com/cAB5WfjYOn
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) June 22, 2025

Hegseth noted that Iran is currently “calculating the reality that planes flew from the middle of America in MISSOURI over night, completely undetected, over three of their most highly sensitive sites. And we were able to destroy nuclear capabilities, and our boys in those bombers are on their way home right now.”

“We believe that'll have a clear psychological impact on how they view the future,” he emphasized.