Pretoria – President Cyril Ramaphosa and the South African government have “noted with a great deal of anxiety the entry by the United States of America into the Israel-Iran war”.
Earlier on Sunday, 22 June 2025, President Donald Trump announced that U.S. stealth bombers hit sites in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.
Iran’s nuclear agency confirmed to media outlets that the U.S. attacks occurred but insisted “work will not be stopped”.
Iran, which said there was “no sign of contamination” as a result of the attacks on its nuclear sites, launched retaliatory strikes on Israel.
Streaks were seen in the sky over Jerusalem on Sunday, as Iran fired missiles toward Israel for the first time since the U.S. carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Israeli airspace has been closed to inbound and outbound travel, but it’s not clear for how long.
Several Latin American countries have condemned the U.S attack on Iran.
South Africa has joined the nations calling for an end to attacks between Israel, backed by the U.S., and Iran to pursue diplomacy instead.
In a statement made available to The Bulrushes, the SA Presidency said: “It was South Africa’s sincerest hope that President Donald Trump would use his influence and that of the U.S. government to prevail on the parties to pursue a dialogue path in resolving their issues of dispute”.
The statement added: “South Africa calls on the United States, Israel, and Iran to give the United Nations the opportunity and space to lead on the peaceful resolution of the matters of dispute, including the inspection and verification of Iran’s status of uranium enrichment, as well as its broader nuclear capacity”.
