President Donald Trump has announced that the United States has bombed three nuclear sites in Iran, putting an end to days of speculation about whether he would order American forces to join Israel’s week-long campaign to destroy Tehran’s nuclear weapons program by sending long-range bombers on a surprise attack aimed at bringing Iranian officials back to the negotiating table.
“We have completed our very successful attack on the three nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” the president stated on Truth Social. “All planes have left Iran’s air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the main site, Fordow.”
Fordow and Natanz both house uranium enrichment facilities, while Isfahan is thought to be where Iran stores near-bomb-grade enriched uranium. The Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant is buried deep underground, heavily fortified, and is expected to house 2,700 centrifuges used for uranium enrichment.
“Every plane is safely on its way home. “Congratulations to our great American warriors,” Trump said. “There is no other military in the world that could have accomplished this. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE! Thank you for paying attention to this matter.
Two hours after his initial post, Trump briefly addressed the nation from the White House, claiming that the strikes had “totally obliterated” the nuclear sites.
“Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace,” according to him. “If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier.”
Israel launched attacks on Iran on June 13, claiming that the country was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran then retaliated with its own series of air strikes.
Since then, the two countries have continued to trade attacks. The Associated Press reports that at least 657 people have been killed in Iran, with another 2,037 injured, citing the non-profit Human Rights Activists.
Some users initially had trouble loading the post or Trump’s profile on Truth Social. However, the post was still visible on his X account.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the strikes in an English-language video statement.
“Congratulations President Trump, your bold decision to target Iran’s nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous might of the United States will change history,” Netanyahu thundered.
The US used B-2s to carry out the strikes. Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that the planes dropped six 30,000-pound bunker buster bombs on Fordow. The United States also launched 30 Tomahawk missiles at Natanz and Isfahan, he said.
Several B-2 bomber planes left a Missouri airbase and flew across the Pacific earlier Saturday, ahead of the strikes.
According to CNN and The New York Times, US officials warned Israel about the upcoming strikes. According to ABC News, Trump failed to notify the so-called Gang of Eight, a group of Congress’s highest-ranking members, about the strikes.
He also did not inform Representative Jim Himes, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee.
According to ABC News, President Trump notified Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson.
The Independent understands that Trump decided to approve the strikes in recent days, despite a statement from Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday stating that he would make a decision within two weeks.
That decision was based on the belief that only American capabilities could destroy Iran’s nuclear program, and it came only after American forces in the Middle East had prepared for potential Iranian retaliation.
The timing of the attack was also influenced by concerns that Iran would soon be able to restore defensive and offensive weapons systems that had been knocked offline by Israeli attacks in the previous week.
Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the US of “a grave violation of the UN Charter, international law, and the NPT by attacking Iran’s peaceful nuclear installations.”
“The events this morning were outrageous and will have long-term consequences. Every member of the UN must be concerned about this extremely dangerous, lawless, and criminal behavior,” Araghchi said. “In accordance with the UN Charter and its provisions allowing a legitimate response in self-defense, Iran reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest, and people.”
He previously warned that US attacks on Iran would be “very, very dangerous,” during a round of diplomacy talks in Istanbul on Saturday. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, warned on Wednesday that the United States would suffer “irreparable” harm if it entered the conflict.
Tens of thousands of US troops are stationed in the Middle East across several military bases, and Iran may target them in retaliation.
The US military has at least 19 locations in the Middle East. Eight of them are permanent, located in Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Iran-backed forces have attacked American troops on several occasions since the start of the most recent war in Gaza and subsequent conflicts in the region.
Trump has previously stated that any attack on American military forces in the Middle East would be met with the “full strength and might of the US Armed Forces.”
Just 24 hours before Saturday’s strike, Trump claimed Iran could build a working nuclear weapon in “a matter of weeks.” His remark directly contradicted National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard’s sworn testimony from May. The former Congresswoman said the intelligence community “continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon.”
Trump said Wednesday that Iranian negotiators should have accepted an agreement his administration proposed during talks held over the last two months.
“They should have done the deal. “I had an excellent deal for them,” Trump stated. “They should have done that deal in 60 days. We talked about it, and in the end, they decided not to do it, and now they wish they had, and they want to meet, but it’s too late to meet, but they want to meet and come to the White House.”
According to White House officials, the president watched the strikes from the White House Situation Room on Saturday, after returning from a political fundraiser at his Bedminister golf club in New Jersey.
Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican and Chair of the Senate Budget Committee, described today’s strikes as “the right call.” Thune also stated that he “stand[s]” behind Trump and will “pray for the American troops and personnel in harm’s way.”
Johnson described the strikes as a reminder that “Trump means what he says.”
“President Trump has been consistent and clear that a nuclear-armed Iran will not be tolerated,” he said in a statement. “That posture has now been enforced with strength, precision, and clarity.”
Other lawmakers, including some of Trump’s Republican allies, are less pleased with the move. Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican who co-sponsored a bill requiring congressional authorization for military action against Iran, described the attack as “not constitutional.”
Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat who co-sponsored the same bill, stated that Congress should “immediately return to DC and vote on @RepThomasMassie and my War Powers Resolution to prevent America from being dragged into another endless Middle East war.”
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez described the strike as “grounds for impeachment.”
“The President’s disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers,” she said in a blog post. “He has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations.”
