Iran vows to respond to US bombing
Tehran, Jun 22 (PTI): Iran on Sunday vowed to avenge the US bombing of three of its major nuclear facilities saying the American strikes will have "everlasting consequences".
The reaction by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi came hours after the US struck Iranian nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan using "bunker buster" bombs which were dropped by B-2 bombers.
Following the US strikes, President Donald Trump said the Iranian nuclear facilities were "completely and totally obliterated".
The US has committed a "grave violation" of the UN Charter, international law and the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) by attacking Iran's peaceful nuclear installations, Araghchi said.
"The events this morning are outrageous and will have everlasting consequences. Each and every member of the UN must be alarmed over this extremely dangerous, lawless and criminal behaviour," he said.
The Iranian foreign minister said Tehran reserves "all options" to defend its "sovereignty, interest, and people."
Araghchi said he is travelling to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On its part, Russia strongly condemned the "irresponsible" US strikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran, and said it "grossly" violated international law, UN Charter and UNSC resolutions.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said the US action has granted Iran the legitimate right to act in self-defence including "through options that go beyond the delusional calculations of the aggressor coalition".
The IRGC statement has been carried by Iranian news agency Tasnim.
Meanwhile, the 27-nation European Union urged all sides to step back, return to the negotiating table.
"I urge all sides to step back, return to the negotiating table and prevent further escalation," EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said.
The EU foreign ministers are discuss the situation on Monday.
The UK and many other nations have also appealed for calm.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
