US attacks Iran: What are the Islamic Republic's options?
The US launched a surprise bombing attack on three Iranian nuclear facilities late on Saturday, bringing America directly into Israel's war against the Islamic Republic.
Donald Trump said the air strikes had "completely and totally obliterated" the Fordow, Natanz and the Isfahan sites, in an effort to disable the Islamic Republic's nuclear enrichment capability.
As of 11am GMT, it remained unclear whether the Fordow plant, buried deep under a mountain and protected by anti-aircraft batteries, was partially or completely destroyed.
Al Jazeera Arabic reported that Washington had notified Tehran in advance of the strikes, and that the targeted sites were evacuated.
Meanwhile, Amwaj Media, citing an Iranian political source, reported that "most" of Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium were kept in secure locations outside of the three targeted areas.
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Iran has threatened to retaliate against the American attacks, and on Sunday issued a warning that "every American soldier and citizen in the region is a legitimate target".
With the situation still developing, Middle East Eye takes a look at what options are on the table for Iran.
Attacks on US assets
The US has a range of military bases across the Middle East.
Key bases are located in Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Syria, Bahrain and Iraq.
Following the strikes on Iran, a commentator on Iran's IRIB state broadcaster said that every American citizen and soldier in the region was a "legitimate target" and aired a map showing US bases in the region.
"You started it and we'll finish it," he said.
Kuwait's finance ministry said on Sunday that it had set up shelters in the country's ministries complex.
The shelters can accommodate around 900 people, the ministry said in a statement on X.
Withdraw from Non-Proliferation Treaty
The US attack on Iran has led some Iranian lawmakers to call for withdrawing from the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which promotes disarmament and the use of peaceful nuclear energy.
Parliament foreign policy committee head Abbas Golroo said in a statement on X on Sunday that the US strikes on Iran gave the country the legal right to withdraw from the treaty based on Article 10.
Article 10 postulates that an NPT member has "the right to withdraw from the Treaty if it decides that extraordinary events have jeopardised the supreme interests of its country".
Only one country has withdrawn from the NPT before, which was North Korea in 2003.
Iran's regional neighbours Pakistan and India, as well as Israel, are not parties to the NPT and have nuclear weapons, though Israel has refused to confirm it publicly.
Block the Strait of Hormuz
The Strait of Hormuz is a key shipping lane for international trade and is a "chokepoint" for nearly a fifth of the world's daily oil flows.
Iran has previously threatened it could close the lane in response to a US attack and on Sunday a representative for Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said the move should be swiftly taken.
"It is now our turn to act without delay," said Hossein Shariatmadari, according to state media.
"As a first step, we must launch a missile strike on the US naval fleet in Bahrain and simultaneously close the Strait of Hormuz to American, British, German and French ships."
A move to close the strait could have a destructive effect on the global economy, which has already been struggling in the wake of Trump's tariff policies and Israel's attacks in the Middle East.
"Ya'll ready for extremely high inflation so that America can pretend it can knock out Iran's nuclear programme?" wrote macroeconomist Philip Pilkington on X.
Mobilisation of proxies
A range of Iran-backed armed groups in a number of countries including Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon are also likely to retaliate against US assets in the region.
An official from Yemen's Houthis said on Sunday that the group's response to US attacks on Iran was "only a matter of time".
Many of the groups had already been involved in small-scale attacks on Israeli and US targets since the beginning of the war on Gaza in October 2023.
The Zainabiyoun Brigade, an armed Pakistani group founded by Iran to fight in the Syrian civil war, issued a statement stating its readiness to engage in the war against Israeli and American targets.
"Your blood is our blood. Our hearts, souls and minds stand with you. Know that the people of Pakistan stand shoulder to shoulder with you," said the statement, adding it was prepared to target US assets in Pakistan.
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